Fatma Hassona, a Palestinian photojournalist who was to be featured in a documentary premiering in France in May, was killed on Wednesday by an Israeli missile.
Hassona, 25, was known for her photographs documenting civilian casualties resulting from Israeli military actions. She died in her home alongside several members of her immediate family, according to the film’s director, Sepideh Farsi, as reported by Deadline.
Hassona had recently become engaged. Farsi had communicated with Hassona and her family not long ago. “One of the sisters was pregnant,” she said. “During a video call just two days ago, she showed me her belly. It is unbelievably horrible and heartbreaking.”
Hassona’s death occurred shortly after she learned that her film, Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk, had been selected for ACID, a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival. Farsi, who has also directed films like Siren and Red Rose, was in the process of arranging Hassona’s travel to the festival. She mentioned that Hassona was anxious about being able to return to Gaza immediately after the event.
Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk is a 110-minute documentary that chronicles a nearly year-long exchange between Farsi and Hassona after the conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023.
“This film provides a glimpse into the ongoing massacre of Palestinians through a remarkable encounter with Fatem,” Farsi stated in the film’s description on ACID’s website. “She became my eyes in Gaza, and I, her link to the outside world.”
Farsi expressed to Deadline her concern that her film may have made Hassona a target.
Hassona is the most recent journalist to die since the war began over a year ago. In response to the latest airstrikes, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, stated, “Palestinian journalists continue to perform heroic work, paying a terrible price; 170 have been killed so far.” The UN estimates that a total of 209 journalists have been killed in Gaza while either on duty or at their homes.
Last year, attendees of the Cannes Film Festival used the red carpet to express their views on the conflict. Actress Leila Bekhti was photographed wearing a pin displaying the colors of the Palestinian flag on her way to a screening. Laura Blajman-Kadar, a survivor of the October 7th attacks, wore a sash that read over a yellow dress adorned with images of hostages kidnapped by .
ACID, the organization supporting the independent film festival featuring Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk, released a statement on Thursday, reflecting on their encounter with Hassona during the selection process: “Her smile possessed a magical quality that matched her determination: documenting, photographing Gaza, distributing provisions despite the bombs, the sorrow, and the hunger.” They added that Hassona’s passing underscores the need for the documentary to reach a broader audience, saying, “This film will be different as we carry, support and show it in every theater, beginning with Cannes.”
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