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Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, protagonist of Cannes-selected doc, killed in Israeli airstrike

Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, protagonist of Cannes-selected doc, killed in Israeli airstrike

The strike targeted their home just a day after the documentary was announced as part of the prestigious ACID sidebar at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
18 Apr, 2025

Fatima Hassouna, a Palestinian photojournalist and central figure in the upcoming Cannes-selected documentary Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday, along with nine members of her family.

The strike targeted their home in Gaza City just a day after the documentary was announced as part of the prestigious Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (ACID) sidebar at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, reported Deadline.

Hassouna, who had garnered international acclaim for her searing photojournalism documenting the devastation and human toll of the war in Gaza, was described by director Sepideh Farsi as “a light” and “so talented.”

The documentary is structured around video conversations between Hassouna and Farsi, offering an intimate portrayal of a young woman documenting the collapse of her homeland while clinging to hope.

“She said, ‘I’ll come (to Cannes), but I have to go back to Gaza. I don’t want to leave Gaza,’” Farsi the outlet. “Now the whole family is dead.”

Among the victims were Hassouna’s siblings, one of whom was pregnant. Just days earlier, Hassouna had shown Farsi her sister’s baby bump over a video call.

Hassouna, who had recently gotten engaged, was reportedly in the early stages of securing travel arrangements through the French embassy. Farsi fears her death may not have been incidental.

“I even feel guilty… maybe they targeted her because the film was announced. I don’t know. We’ll never know,” she said.

The Israeli military said the house was targeted due to the presence of a Hamas officer, a claim Farsi firmly denies. “It’s nonsense. I know the whole family,” she said.

As of February 2024, the International Federation of Journalists reported that at least 157 journalists and media workers had been killed since Israel launched its military assault on Gaza.

The Gaza-based health ministry, supported by UN sources, reports that over 51,000 people have been killed, with a Lancet study suggesting the actual toll could be even higher.

France’s ACID, which curates and supports the films in its Cannes programme, issued a statement expressing its “horror” at Hassouna’s death.

“Her smile was as magical as her tenacity: bearing witness, photographing Gaza, distributing food despite bombs, grief, and hunger,” the statement read. “We had watched and programmed a film in which this young woman’s life force was nothing short of miraculous. This is a different film than the one we will carry, support, and present in every theater, starting with Cannes.”

Comments

Ronny Apr 18, 2025 11:54am
This is genoside
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D.M NAPAR Apr 18, 2025 12:12pm
I'm afraid,the world won't be both a happy and peaceful place to live in with Donald Trump in the White House.
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AKMAL Apr 18, 2025 12:16pm
The Israeli,s are worst than animals and Muslim,s are sold out ,
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D.M NAPAR Apr 18, 2025 12:18pm
Why on earth do we have International Bodies like the UNO-only for paying lip-service to brutal genocide there in Gaza???
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M. Saeed Apr 18, 2025 12:22pm
Without any doubt, Palestinians are, by far, the best Muslims by any account !
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Vincent Kamran Apr 18, 2025 12:26pm
So young so beautiful. Earth just lost a bit of it's beauty. Rip dear.
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Apr 18, 2025 01:06pm
Gruesome, grisly and gigantic targeted ethnic cleansing akin to Hitler's Nazi party's genocide of Jews during WW II. Inna Lilla Hay Waa Inna Illehey Rajayoon.
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Tariq Hasan Apr 18, 2025 01:30pm
This is not war. This is genocide. Over 50,000 people have been killed in Gaza, and the world continues to watch in silence. This is not collateral damage; this is a systematic and gruesome extermination of a people trapped in an open-air prison with nowhere to flee. Fatima was not just a journalist; she was a witness to history, a voice for her people, and now her voice has been silenced along with so many others. Her story is not an isolated tragedy, it is part of a much larger catastrophe that demands accountability. When will the world stop rationalizing the slaughter and start acting to end it?
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Salman Apr 18, 2025 05:21pm
This was punishment from Israel for making a documentary that received international recognition
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ADNAN JAVED Apr 18, 2025 05:26pm
so brutal, a whole family of Palestinians is being wipe out...no one is safe
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Asim Apr 18, 2025 05:51pm
May you rest in peace - on behalf of entire ummah - i am sorry we could not protect you
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Ashar Apr 18, 2025 07:00pm
There is no justice in this world, do not expect justice here, Justice will only be server on Day of Judgement by the best Judge.
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Agha Raza Apr 18, 2025 07:39pm
Israeli murderers
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A. Jabbar Apr 18, 2025 08:08pm
Highly condemned the brutality of Isreal in Gaza. Feeling sad for her and family demise
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M Hashim Apr 19, 2025 05:40am
Bloodshed of the innocent will only speed the demise of the apartheid state of Isn't real.
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Cristoval Apr 19, 2025 10:06pm
It is not a one side will take all. Very soon the perpetrators of all sprts of evil will have the scales tipped against them. Their punishment will not endure only for this life, but will carry on for the next as well. There now remains 14 months and 24 days.
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