Hollywood icons Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Riz Ahmed, and Guillermo del Toro have signed a petition denouncing the film industry’s silence regarding what they labelled as “genocide” in Gaza.
The petition, which has garnered signatures from over 370 actors and filmmakers, also criticised Israel for the killing of Fatima Hassouna, the young photojournalist featured in the documentary “Put Your Soul in Your Hand and Walk,” which premiered at Cannes on Thursday.
The organisers revealed that French actress Juliette Binoche, who is leading the jury at Cannes, also signed the letter, along with Rooney Mara, US indie filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, and “Lupin” star Omar Sy.
Initially, Binoche appeared to withdraw her support for the letter as the festival commenced on Tuesday, instead paying tribute to Hassouna, who was tragically killed alongside ten members of her family just a day after finding out that the film would be showcased at Cannes.
This growing outcry follows several days of escalating violence in the besieged Palestinian region, with 120 individuals killed on Thursday and 50 reported fatalities since midnight.
“Schindler’s List” actor Ralph Fiennes, along with Richard Gere, Mark Ruffalo, Guy Pearce, Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem, and directors David Cronenberg, Pedro Almodovar, Alfonso Cuaron, and Mike Leigh expressed their “shame” regarding the film industry’s failure to speak out against Israel’s siege of Gaza in the original letter.
In her speech at Cannes on Tuesday, Binoche also mentioned the Israeli hostages taken by the Palestinian group Hamas during its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which ignited the Gaza conflict.
