Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi is still reeling from the news that her documentary’s main subject, 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza last month.
Fatima and 10 members of her family died when a missile struck their home in northern Gaza—just one day after learning their film had been selected for the Cannes Film Festival.
A Story Silenced Before the World Could Hear It
Farsi’s film, Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, was born out of video conversations with Fatima. Due to Israel’s ban on foreign media entering Gaza, the director had to remotely capture Fatima’s story—a young woman documenting her people’s suffering through her lens.
“She was just taking photos,” Farsi said. “Why would you kill someone and decimate an entire family for that?”
“They Were Normal People”
Israel has claimed its strikes target Hamas, but Farsi disputes that explanation.
“Her father was a taxi driver. She was a photographer. Her sister was a painter. Her little brother was just 10,” she said.
Fatima’s mother, Farsi added, lost six children, her husband, and her home in the strike. “She lost everything.”
Cannes Under the Shadow of War
This year’s Cannes Film Festival has been overshadowed by the ongoing war in Gaza, where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed and the population is on the brink of famine due to a prolonged aid blockade.
Some actors at Cannes have shown solidarity with Gaza by wearing Palestinian flags or symbols, while others, like Ralph Fiennes and Richard Gere, joined hundreds of public figures condemning the silence around what they describe as “genocide”.
A Tribute to Fatima
On the festival’s opening night, Juliette Binoche, head of the main competition jury and star of The English Patient, paid tribute to Fatima Hassouna. Farsi said she held onto hope that Fatima would survive and attend Cannes.
“I believed she would come, that the war would stop. But reality caught up with us,” she said.
Journalism Under Fire
According to Reporters Without Borders, nearly 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza in the last 18 months. Fatima’s death is one of many, but it’s also deeply personal for Farsi, whose film now stands as a tribute to a voice that was silenced too soon.
