Palestinian Journalist and Protagonist in Cannes-Bound Documentary Killed in Gaza
A Palestinian artist and photojournalist who is the protagonist of a documentary due to premiere in in May has been killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to multiple media reports.
Fatma Hassouna, a Palestinian photojournalist and artist and a protagonist in Sepideh Farsi’s Cannes-bound documentary Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, was killed Wednesday by a direct Israeli military strike on her family home in Gaza City.
The attack occurred just 24 hours after Cannes’ sidebar section ACID announced it had picked Farsi’s film for its 2025 selection. Hassouna died in the attack, along with nine members of her family.
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“We, filmmakers and members of the ACID team, met Fatma Hassona when we discovered Sepideh Farsi’s film Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, during the Cannes program,” ACID posted on Instagram Thursday. “Her smile was as magical as her tenacity: Bearing witness, photographing Gaza, distributing food despite bombs, grief and hunger. Her story reached us, and we rejoiced at each of her appearances to know she was alive; we feared for her. Yesterday, we learned with horror that an Israeli missile targeted her building, killing Fatem and her family.”
Hassouna had gained recognition for her photojournalism, published in The Guardian and other outlets, documenting the impact of the Israeli military campaign on Gaza. Farsi’s documentary revolves around video conversations between the director and Hassouna, which began when the director contacted her while researching a different film on Gaza.
“We had viewed and programmed a film in which this young woman’s life force was nothing short of miraculous,” ACID said. “This is a different film than the one we will carry, support and present in every theater, starting with Cannes. All of us, filmmakers and spectators, must be worthy of her light,” referring to Hassouna.
The war in Gaza has been a deadly one for journalists. According to American non-profit The Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 175 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Lebanon since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas and Israel’s bombing and military occupation of Gaza. The Oct. 7 attackers killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages, according to official Israeli sources, while Israeli military attacks in Gaza have killed more than 50,000 people, including more than 15,000 children, according to figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
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