The 78th Cannes Film Festival opened on Monday evening with a poignant tribute by jury president Juliette Binoche to Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike that struck her home in Gaza City’s Al-Tuffah neighborhood on April 16, 2025. The attack claimed the lives of ten of her family members, including her pregnant sister.
“In the early hours of that day, a missile struck their home. Fatima, just 25 years old, was killed alongside her loved ones—just days before her wedding. The day before, she had learned that a film featuring her had been selected for screening at Cannes. She was meant to be here with us tonight,” Binoche said during her opening speech.
Fatima Hassouna was renowned for her powerful documentation of daily life under siege in Gaza. She worked with international media such as The Guardian and Mondoweiss, and participated in several international exhibitions. She recently starred in the documentary Put Your Soul in Your Hand and Walk, directed by Iranian-French filmmaker Sepideh Farsi, which was selected for Cannes’ ACID section.
She was expected to attend the film’s premiere at Cannes, but the airstrike not only ended her life, but also silenced a rare visual voice that bore witness to the human cost of war.
Fatima is one of over 200 journalists killed in Gaza since October 2023, marking the region as one of the deadliest zones for the press in modern history.
The Cannes tribute to Fatima Hassouna was more than a symbolic gesture—it was a cinematic cry against violence, a reminder that truths captured through a journalist’s lens never die, and that art amplifies the voices that bombs try to silence.
