ACID, the independent sidebar that runs parallel to the Cannes Film Festival, has responded to the death in Gaza of Fatma Hassona, subject of Sep
ACID, the independent sidebar that runs parallel to the Cannes Film Festival, has responded to the death in Gaza of Fatma Hassona, subject of Sepideh Farsi’s Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk which has been selected for the 2025 event.
“Yesterday, we were shocked to learn that an Israeli missile had targeted her building, killing Fatem and her family,” said the ACID statement, published on behalf of the filmmakers in the ACID section and members of the ACID team.
“We had watched and programmed a film in which this young woman’s life force seemed like a miracle. This is no longer the same film we are going to support and present in theaters, starting with Cannes. All of us, filmmakers and spectators alike, must be worthy of her light.”
Hassona – also known by the first name Fatem, and surname Hassouna – was a photographer who came to international attention for her photojournalism depicting the impact of the Israeli military offensive on the civilian population of Gaza.
She died, reportedly alongside nine members of her family, on the morning of Wednesday, April 16 – the day after Farsi’s film was selected for the Cannes ACID section. ACID runs from May 14 to 23.
“Her smile was as magical as her tenacity; bearing witness, photographing Gaza, distributing food despite the bombs, mourning and hunger,” said the ACID statement. “We heard her story, we rejoiced at each of her appearances to see her alive, we feared for her.”
According to France-based Iranian director Farsi, the 110-minute film is “a window… offering glimpses of the ongoing massacre of the Palestinians.” It came about through a “miraculous encounter with Fatem” and the communications Farsi had with her over almost a year.
”When I heard the news yesterday, I first refused to believe it, thinking it was a mistake,” said Farsi to French newspaper Liberation, ”like the one a few months ago when a family with the same surname had perished in an Israeli attack. Incredulous, I called her then sent her a message, and then another one, and another one.”
”All those dazzling existences were crushed by a finger that pressed on a button and dropped a bomb to erase one more house in Gaza. There are no more doubts to be had, what is occurring in Gaza today is not, and has not been for a long time, an answer to the crimes committed by Hamas on October 7, it is a genocide committed by Israel. I blame those that are committing it as well as their accomplices, and I ask for justice for Fatem and for all the innocent Palestinians that have died.”
The International Federation of Journalists reported earlier this year that at least 157 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the current conflict.
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