A group of more than 350 international actors, directors and producers signed a letter that published a letter on the first day of the Cannes Film Festival denouncing the killing of the Palestinian photographer and the protagonist of the festival documentary “Put your soul in your hands and walk”.
The letter was made by Mark Ruffalo, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, Melissa Barrera, Yorgos Lanthimos, Javier Bardem, Hannah Einbind, Pedro Almodóvar, David Cronenberg, David Cronenberg, Alfonso Cuarón Pictures “Lack of Support” and “Landless” co-director of Arts and Sciences Hamdan Ballal.
Just three weeks after winning the Oscar for the Oscar documentary, Balalal was attacked by settlers and kidnapped by Israeli troops. After being criticized for his silence about the incident, Ampas finally publicly apologized. "We feel ashamed of this passivity," the letter reads.
But the letter also urges the film (it says it is a “breeding farm of socially committed works”) to use its art form to “learn from history, make dedicated films” and to “present to protect oppressed voices.”
It concluded: "For those who die in apathy, for Fatma. The film has the responsibility to carry their message and reflect our society. Let us act before it is too late."
Please see the complete list of letters and signers below:
Fatma Hassona is 25 years old.
She is a Palestinian free photographer. She was targeted by the Israeli army on April 16, 2025, and announced the next day that Sepideh Farsi's film "Put Your Soul in Your Hands and Walk", her star, was selected in the sour section of the Cannes Film Festival.
She is about to get married.
Ten of her relatives, including her pregnant sister, were killed by the same Israeli strike.
No foreign journalist authorized to enter the Gaza Strip since the horrific massacre on October 7, 2023. Israeli troops target civilians. More than 200 journalists were intentionally killed. Writers, filmmakers and artists were brutally murdered.
In late March, Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal won an Oscar for his film No Other Land. The lack of support for Hamdan Ballal in the Academy has aroused the anger of its own members and it has had to publicly apologize.
We are ashamed of such negative emotions.
Why do cinemas, a breeding ground for socially dedicated works, seem so indifferent to reality and the horror of oppression that our sisters and brothers have suffered?
As artists and cultural actors, we cannot remain silent when genocide occurs in Gaza, and this incredible news is terrifyingly hitting our communities.
If we don’t learn from history, make the films we invested in, and if we are not present to protect the oppressed voice, what is the focus of our profession?
Why is this silence?
On the far right, fascism, colonialism, anti-trans and anti-lgbtqia+, sexism, racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitic movements are fighting on the battlefields of thought, attack publishing, cinemas and universities, which is why we have the hardest to fight.
Let's refuse to let our art be the worst accomplices.
Let's stand up.
Let's name reality.
Let us collectively dare to look at it with the precision of a sensitive heart so that we can no longer be silent and concealed.
Let us reject propaganda that constantly colonizes our imagination and makes us lose our sense of humanity.
For Fatma, for all who die in apathy.
Movies have the responsibility to convey their message to reflect our society.
Let's act before it's too late.
Signed by:
Khalid Abdalla
Noée Ries
Hanni Absard
Raphaëlle Gogué
Alkaline
Catia Albertazzi
Vlad Alexis
Taraneh Alidoosti
You al-kateb
Yasmine al Massri
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Alonso
Cristèle Alves Meira
Serdar Akar
India Amarteifio
Gianni Amelio
Carmine Amoroso
Elisa Amoruso
Roman Andre
Roberto Andro
Geoff Arbourne
Francesca Archibugi
Tiziana Aristarco
Swann Arlaud
Olivier Azam
Gokce Bahadir
Jeanne Balibar
Baloji
Avital Barak
Carlos Bardem
Javier Bardem
Melissa Barrera
BelmaBaş
Dominique Baumard
Xavier Beauvois
SaïdBenSaïd
bekhti level
Luca Bellino
Suzy Bumba
Adila Bendimerrad
kauther ben hania
Dali Benssalah
Fabrizio Bentivoglio
Julie Bertuccelli
Simone Bitton
Constantine Bojanov
Bertrand Bonello
Agathe Bonitzer
Amélie Bonnin
Bruno Bontzolakis
Lucie Borlene
Bouajila himself
Elodie Bouchez
Bastien Bouillon
Guillaume Brac
Rachida Brakni
Evelyne Brochu
Silvia Brunelli
Jean-Stéphane Bron
Celeste Brunnquell
Gianfranco drinks
Esmeralda Calabria
Laure Calamy
mimmo calopresti
Mehmet CanMertoğlu
Eric Cantona
Stefania Casini
Antonio Maria Castaldo
Marco Castaldi
Sergio Castellitto
Beniano chain store
Ebru Nuri Ceylan
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Lolita Chammah
MoïraChappedelaine-Vautier
Amira Chebli
Nadim Cheikhrouha
Antoine Chevrollier
Simona Chiocca
Julie Christie
Hélier Cisterne
isabel coixet
Daniele Coluccini
Maddalena Crippa
David Cronenberg
Costa Rica - Costa Rica
Saverio Costanzo
Paolo Costella
Pappi Parorato
Brian Cox
Marcia Cross
Alfonso Cuarón
Liam Cunningham
Sinéad Cusack
Fatima
Cherie
Béatrice Dalle
Charles Dance
Ciro d'Milio
Arkin Mercan Dede
Mary Ellen Davis
Suki Sizi
Yann Dedet
Matthieu de Laborde
Pierre Deladonchamps
émiliedeleuze
AgnèsDeSacy
Biasi Volfango
Caro Cyrus
Maura Delpero
Maria de Medeiros
Dyo
Maria Teresa de Vito
sylvain desclous
Lucas Det
Juan Diego Botto
Alice Diop
Javad Djavahery
Julie Delpy
Xavier Dolan
Dimitri Golden
Joey's dosch
Joana Dos Reis
Mike Downey, Obe.
Sara Driver
Duke Luana protein
Sophie Dupuis
Pierre-Nicolas Durand
Virginie Efira
Hannah Intherd
Sayyid El Nature
Ouity Elma
Amir El-Masry
Mare Enghart
Victor Erice
Benedikt Erlingsson
AdèleExarchopoulos
Roberto Faenza
Frédéric Farrucci
Sepideh to do
Nina Faure
Elda Ferri
Margherita Dell
Isabella Ferrari
Lisa Party
Ralph Fiennes
Sophie Fiennes
Milena Fiore
Mahdi Fleifel
Michele Fornasero
French Ocean
Blanche Gading
Lena Garrel
Carmen Garcia
Jean-Raymond Garcia
Nicole Garcia
Pablo Garcia Canga
Matteo Garrone
Alessandro Gassmann
Nadia gene
Xavier Gens
Paolo Genovese
Aurélia Georges
Richard Gere
Denis Gheerbrant
Adriano Giannini
Alex Gibney
Raphaël Girardot
Jonathan Glazer
Judith Godrèche
Brice Gravelle
Emmanuel Gras
Zeno Graton
Marco Greco
José Luis Guerín
Diane Guerrero
Samir Guesmi
Vincent Guilbert
Alain Guiraudie
Gutierrez, Germany
naoi food
Grimur Hákonarson
Rebecca Hall
Arthur Hariri
Misan Harriman
Lena Headey
Clotilde Hesme
hafsia herzi
Ted Hope
Vanessa Hope
Sandracon
fiorella infascelli
Muhammad Jabals
Annemarie Jacir
Alma Jodorowsky
Óskar Jónasson
Elisabeth Jonniaux
Valdimar Jóhannsson
Rachel Leah Jones
Thorsteinn Jónsson
Gladys Joujou
Judas's Work
Ilker Kaleli
Asif Kapadia
Semih Kaplanoğlu
Mathieu Kassovitz
AkiKaurismäki
Jacques Kébadian
Erwan Kepoa Falé
Yannick Kergoat
Sofian Khammes
Michel Khleifi
King Shaka
hépledaclaoses
Nicolas Klotz
Wilma Labate
Ariane Lab
Mourad Laffitte
Philippe Laïk
Yógos
Alexis Langlois
Nadav Lapid
Luc Leclerc du Sablon
Duke of Evan
Radouan Leflahi
Mike Leigh
Blandine Lenoir
Philippe Lespinasse
Not Levi
Luigi Lo Cascio
Elisabetta Lodoli
Florence loiret-caille
Stefano Lorenzi
Boris Lojkine
Fabiomassman lock
Daniele Lucchetti
Silvia Luzi
Filippo Macelloni
Guslagie Malanda
David Mambouch
Simone Manetti
Andrea Manni
Miriam Margolyes
Large content
Vincent Mariette
Félix Maritaud
Laïla Marrakchi
Lucrecia Martel
Mario Martone
Alessandra Masi
Valerio Mastandrea
Patricia Mazuy
Simon McBurney
Mounia Meddour
Sylvestre Meinzer
Fernando Meirelles
Kleber Mendonça Filho
Nina Menkes
Stephen Mercury
Christian Carmosino always
Frédéric Mermoud
Nina Meurisse
Valerie's brain
Emmanuelle Xiaomi
David Minnella
Avi Mograbi
Moore, India
Mercedes Morán
Laura Morante
Gérard Mordillat
Viggo Mortensen
Anna Mouglalis
Gabriele Muccino
Peter Mullan
Margherita Murolo
Lino Musella
Arabian Nasser
Tarzan Nasser
Dalia Naous
Nadine
Raphaël Neal
Enza Negroni
Brothers Susmu Cola
Cynthia Nixon
Bruno Nuytten
Andrea occhipinti
Michela Occhipinti
Joshua Oppenheimer
Luis Ortega
RubenÖstlund
Damien Oounouri
Ferzan Ozpetek
Palasciano Rosa
Hlynur Pálmason
Daphné Patakia
Paul Pascott
Raffaele Passerini
Guy Pierce
Elisabeth Perceval
Anton's Perennials
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart
Auréliapetit
Ralitza Petrova
Just Filicott
Giuseppe piccioni
Caroline Poggi
Laura Poitras
Claire Punk (Apple)
Frassou
Frédérique Pressmann
Vimala Pons
Marco Simon Puccioni
Katell Quillévéré
Olivier Rabourdin
Michèle Ray-Gavras
Annick Redolfi
Christophe Régin
Jérémie Renier
Yannick Renier
Rémy Ricordeau
Michele Riondino
Yannick Rosset
Cecilia Roth
Mark Ruffalo
RúnarRúnarsson
Ira Sachs
Zaho de Sagazan
Ludivine Sagnier
Céline Sallette
Claudio Santamaria
Susan Sarandon
Stefano Sardo
Stefania Sandrelli
AlïseSauvage
Greta Scarano
Angela Schanelec
Pierre School
Niels Schneider
Vassili Schneider
Alessandro Scipa
Amanda Seal
Tracey
Sarah sees it
Giram Senes
Léonor Serraille
Alia Shawkat
Melery Simon-Fran
Eyal Sivan
Giancarlo Money
Paolo Sorrentino
Massimo Spano
Morgan Spector
Happy Spigarelli
Italo Spinelli
Juliette Smadja
Robyn Slovo
Roger Starr
Teona Strugar Mitevska
Laurent Sylvestre
Gianluca Maria Soilarelli
Natacha Thiery
Jean-Pierre Thorn
ÁsdísThoroddsen
Léa Todorov
Maria Sole Tognazzi
Melita Tuscan du Plantier
Claire Touzard
Justine Triet
Alessandro Trigona
Jasmine Trinca
Carice van Houten
Pamela Varela
Giuseppe Varlotta
Varma
Anjana Vasan
Sophie Verbeeck
Giovanni Veronesi
PaoloVirzì
Cat Village
Jonathan Vinel
Nicolas Wadimoff
Harriet Walter
James Wilson
Lambert Wilson
Alex Winter
Benedict Huang
Jessica Woodworth
Arieh Worthalter
Maud watch
Mohanad Yaqubi
L. Rezan Yeşilbaş
Sofiane Zermani
Andrea Zuliani