The death of Fatima Hassouna, a 25-year-old photojournalist featured in Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, just days before the film’s selection, has triggered global condemnation and solidarity across the industry.
Her story and a slate of Palestinian features and documentaries brought Gaza’s grief and resilience to the festival's heart.
As filmmakers, artists, and institutions rallied behind Palestinian voices, Cannes became a space not just for cinema but also for testimony.
Moreover, films such as Once Upon a Time in Gaza and I’m Glad You’re Dead Now made Palestinian stories deeply present across the festival’s sections.
Besides, the Palestine Film Institute’s showcase of upcoming documentaries highlights a new generation of filmmakers ready to engage the world.
The death that shook the Croisette
The Association for the Distribution of Independent Cinema (ACID) segment of Cannes screens Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk by Iranian director Sepideh Farsi.
The film is a co-production between France, Palestine, and Iran.
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk is a documentary that portrays life in Gaza during the Israeli siege.
It features conversations between Farsi and Hassouna, in the role of photographer and photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, as she documents the impact of Israel's genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.
Hassouna tragically lost her life in an Israeli airstrike on 16 April 2025, just days before the film's selection.
Her death, shortly before her documentary premiered at the festival, drew global attention and condemnation.
In solidarity with Hassouna, over 350 artists signed an open letter denouncing the ongoing Israeli massacres in Gaza, describing it as genocide.
The statement emphasized the responsibility of artists not to remain silent in the face of such atrocities.
Cannes itself acknowledged the tragedy, calling for an end to the violence.
In a statement on Hassouna sent to AFP, the festival said: "The Cannes Film Festival wishes to express its horror and deep sorrow at this tragedy, which has moved and shocked the entire world.”
During the Cannes opening ceremony on 13 May, Juliette Binoche, who heads this year's jury to award the Palme d'Or top prize, lamented Hassouna's death.
“She should have been here tonight with us … In every region of the world, artists are fighting every day and making resistance through art," Binoche said.
And as AFP reports, on the eve of the festival, more than 380 film insiders said they were "ashamed" of their industry's failure to speak out about Israel's siege of Gaza.
"We cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza," read a letter initiated by several pro-Palestinian activist groups and published in the French newspaper Liberation and the US magazine Variety.
The signatories, who include Hollywood stars Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, and former Cannes winners Ruben Ostlund, Mike Leigh, Justine Triet, and Costa-Gavras, also denounced Hassouna's death.
Frames from Palestine
Once Upon a Time in Gaza, directed by twin brothers Tarzan and Arab Nasser, screens at the Un Certain Regard section.
The film, a co-production involving Palestine, Portugal, and France, among other countries, is a tale of murder and friendship set in the war-torn territory.
Tarzan and Arab Nasser, born Ahmed and Mohamed Abunasser in Gaza in 1988, are self-taught filmmakers and artists.
They have made significant contributions to cinema with their previous works, including the short film Colourful Journey, which won first prize at a competition in Ramallah, and the feature films Dégradé (2015) and Gaza Mon Amour (2020), which was Palestine's submission for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards.
The Short Films Competition features I’m Glad You’re Dead Now by Tawfeek Barhom.
“Two brothers return to their childhood island, long-buried secrets force them to confront a dark past that binds them together,” the film’s synopsis reads.
The film is Barhom’s directorial debut, involving co-production between Palestine, France, and Greece.
Barhom, a Palestinian actor and Israeli citizen, is known for several roles, including starring in The Idol (2015), a fictionalized version of Mohammed Assaf's life.
The film was a Palestinian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards but was not nominated.
Palestine Pavilion and Showcase
The Palestine Pavilion returns to the 78th Cannes Film Festival, showcasing its commitment to defending Palestinian voices, stories, and images in a context marked by extreme violence against the population of Gaza.
Led by the Palestine Film Institute (PFI), the Pavilion aims to present Palestine through cinema that documents the country's memory, resistance, and hope.
The Pavilion runs throughout the whole festival and organizes the Palestine Showcase.
This year, the Showcase highlights four feature-length documentaries currently in development, offering filmmakers and producers a chance to present their projects to key industry figures, including decision-makers and festival curators.
This initiative fosters meaningful engagement with the international film community while elevating and amplifying Palestinian voices through storytelling.
The projects to be presented on 19 May include Wolf Game directed by Patricia El; My Rebel Heart by Ida Kat Balslev; Sama by Rabab Khamis; and Asphalt by Hamza Hamideh.
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