Spotlight at Cannes: Tribute Screening for Silent-No-More Gaza Photographer, Who Stood Firm Against a Peaceful Demise
Fiery Fatma: The Unheard Voice of Gaza
Fatma Hassona didn't just dream big, she roared loud. Her crescendoing cry for attention was silenced too soon, yet her message still echoes around the world. A talented photographer and poet, Hassona longed for a death that would shake the planet from its lethargy. That loud clamor has become an unavoidable reality.
"I refuse to be a mere news headline or a faceless casualty," Hassona declared on her social media platform. "I crave a death that captivates the world, a legacy that lasts through time, and an enduring image that can't be erased by time or place."
Tragically, Fatma's hopes were cut short on April 16, days before her wedding, in an Israeli air strike that claimed her life along with 10 members of her family, including her pregnant sister and 10-year-old brother. The 25-year-old was denied the chance to witness the end of the ongoing devastation in Gaza. She never crossed the walls that imprisoned her within the narrow strip of land during her short life.
In the wake of her death, however, the world has taken notice. Outrage has surged across the globe, igniting unprecedented protests and commanding the early stages of the esteemed Cannes Film Festival.
The documentary film "Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk," directed by Sepideh Farsi, has become a focal point at the festival this year. Few films have attracted as much attention as this emotional narrative about Hassona's life and the suffering in Gaza.
Farsi, who has experienced censorship and danger firsthand throughout her career, found a unique challenge in documenting Gaza's dark reality. Caught in a bombed-out black hole, foreign journalists are barred from entering, making access difficult. Farsi describes her communication with Hassona as "bits of sound and pixels scattered in an ocean of disconnect." The two managed to exchange ideas and share insights during their anguished wait for clear connections.
Hassona became Farsi's eyes in Gaza, capturing the gruesome reality of the ongoing war and the lives of the Palestinian enclave's residents with her photographs. The documentarian's audio clips of bombs rumbling and jets screeching overhead capture the risks Hassona was willing to take in her quest for truth.
"Gaza needs me," Hassona explained. "If we don't share the truth, who will?"
Hassona's work showcased more than just the horrors of the ongoing conflict. Her photography is an act of defiance, a dogged determination to "find some life in all this death." Her images serve as a testament to the resilience of Gaza's population in the face of destruction.
"We're living; we're laughing," Hassona says early in the film, beaming with her infectious smile. "They cannot defeat us, because we have nothing to lose."
"Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk" chronicles an eight-month period starting in the spring of 2024, as the media's focus shifts to Israel's planned offensive on the southern city of Rafah. We see the dreams of a ceasefire fade, aid drying up as the Israeli army closes off the last open checkpoint, and Hassona and her family forced to flee from one shelter to another due to evacuation orders.
News bulletins documenting the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, along with interviews from aid workers and UN officials detailing Israel's failure to meet its obligations under international law, provide a devastating backdrop.
Between the bleakness, the two women discuss other topics, such as headscarves, Hassona's favorite movie, and Virginia Woolf. We hear Fatem laugh and dream of enjoying crisps and a little chocolate for the first time in months.
However, the psychological scars of the war become increasingly apparent as the bombing drags on, smiles grow scarce, and Hassona shares her emotional numbness. The heart-wrenching horror of the war - the relentless shelling, the children left hungry, her aunt's severed head found on the streets - Hassona describes as the "normal" in Gaza. It's the inability to bid farewell to her loved ones that brings her to tears.
Farsi last spoke to Hassona on April 15 to share the news that their film would be screened at Cannes. She has since described the missile strike that claimed Hassona's life the following day as a "targeted assassination"[1]. The Israeli military has stated that the strike targeted a Hamas operative without offering details.
According to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, more than 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict, marking the deadliest toll on record for a military conflict for journalists[1]. Journalists reporting from Gaza have repeatedly warned that they are being deliberate targets of the Israeli military.
The Cannes Film Festival has opened amidst growing global outrage over the ongoing conflict, sparked by the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel in which over 1,200 civilians were killed, and more than 250 were taken hostage.
"Like there was no justification for what happened on October 7, nothing justifies what is happening in Gaza," says Farsi, lamenting the world's collective failure to confront and sanction Israel's far-right government over the relentless war and its stated aim to expel Gaza's population.
"We cannot just stand by and let this massacre continue," she adds. "What will future generations ask us when they inquire, 'Why did you do nothing?' We cannot pretend we didn't know."
On the eve of the festival, actors such as Ralph Fiennes and Richard Gere, along with more than 380 other figures, signed an op-ed condemning the film industry's silence over the "genocide" in Gaza and expressing tribute to Hassona's legacy. Cannes jury president Juliette Binoche paid tribute to Hassona on the festival's opening night, reading excerpts from one of her poems[2].
"I wish she was with me so we could make some noise together," says Farsi. "Now that she's been taken away from us, I will do whatever I can with this film, her pictures, her poems, and her words."
[1]: The Israeli military's targeted killing of Fatma Hassona, film director tells Cannes: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-targeted-assassination-palestinian-photographer-gaza- CinemaSpoon-sources-2023-08-16
[2]: Fatma Hassona's death in Gaza was a 'targeted' killing, film director tells Cannes: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/2023-05-16-fatma-hassona-s-death-in-gaza-was-a-targeted-killing-fil-12262.html
[3]: Cannes Film Festival statement over death of Fatma Hassona: https://www.cannesfilmfestival.com/en/press/cannes-film-festival-statement-over-death-fatma-hassona/
- The documentary "Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk," used as a focal point at the Cannes Film Festival this year, highlights the life and work of Fatma Hassona, a Palestinian photographer and poet whose death in an Israeli air strike became breaking news around the world.
- While the film covers the ongoing conflict in Gaza, it also delves into Hassona's passion for culture and arts, capturing her infectious spirit and defiance against the hardships of war.
- Thearts community, including actors such as Ralph Fiennes and Richard Gere, have expressed outrage over the ongoing conflict in Gaza and paid tribute to Hassona's legacy during the Cannes Film Festival.
- The tragic death of Hassona and the ongoing conflict in Gaza have sparked global protests and debates in politics, health, and crime-and-justice spheres, as the world grapples with the humanitarian crisis and calls for action against war-and-conflicts in the region.
