Cannes Expresses “Profound Sadness” At Death Of Gaza Photojournalist

The Cannes Film Festival has expressed “profound sadness” over the death in an Israeli airstrike of Palestinian artist and photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, who is the subject of a documentary invited to the parallel ACID section this year.

Hassouna was killed with nine members of her family in a direct strike on their home in Gaza City on April 16.

“The 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist had made it her mission to bear witness to the daily lives of the inhabitants of Gaza in 2025 through her work and dedication, despite the risks associated with the war in the Palestinian enclave,” the Cannes Film Festival said in a statement.

“Fatima Hassouna is one of the far too many victims of the violence that has engulfed the region for months,” it continued.

Hassouna, who had gained recognition for her photojournalism capturing the impact on the Gaza Strip’s civilian population of the Israeli military campaign, appears in French-Iranian director Sepideh Farsi’s Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk.

The film will play in the parallel ACID sidebar, run by France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema, on April 15.

“The Festival de Cannes wishes to express its dread and profound sadness at this tragedy that has moved and shocked the whole world. Although a film is a small thing in the face of such a tragedy, the screening of Sepideh Farsi’s Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk on May 15 in Cannes as part of ACID, will be, in addition to the message of the film itself, a way to honor the memory of Fatima Hassouna.”

Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza began in October 2023 in response to Hamas’s October 7 attacks on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people and resulted in the taking of 251 hostages.

Eighteen months on, at least 51,065 people have died according to figures released by the Hamas-run Gaza health authority, endorsed by the United Nations, although statistical research published by the Lancet medical journal in February suggested this figure may be 15,000 higher.

Another 116,505 people have also been injured in the Gaza Strip, while 90 percent of the territory’s 2.1 million-strong population has been displaced. Of the 251 hostages taken during the October 7 attack, 59 remain in the Gaza Strip, with around 24 of them still believed to be alive.