Actors Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Riz Ahmed and director Guillermo del Toro have added their names to a letter condemning the film industry’s silence on what it called “genocide” in Gaza, the organizers confirmed Friday.
The petition, signed by more than 370 actors and filmmakers, also denounced Israel’s killing of Fatima Hassouna, the young Gaza photojournalist featured in the documentary “Put Your Soul in Your Hand and Walk,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday.
It briefly mentioned “the terrible massacres of 7 October 2023” before focusing the rest of its ire at Israel and the global right.
“As artists and cultural players, we cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza and this unspeakable news is hitting our communities hard,” it said.
“The far right, fascism, colonialism, anti-trans and anti-LGBTQIA+, sexist, racist, islamophobic and antisemitic movements are waging their battle on the battlefield of ideas, attacking publishing, cinema and universities, and that’s why we have a duty to fight.
“Let us reject the propaganda that constantly colonizes our imaginations and makes us lose our sense of humanity.”
The organizers of the letter said the French actor Juliette Binoche, who is chairing the jury at Cannes, also added her name to the letter, along with Rooney Mara, US indie director Jim Jarmusch and “Lupin” star Omar Sy.
Binoche had initially seemed to pull back from supporting it as the festival opened on Tuesday, instead delivering a tribute to Hassouna, who was killed with 10 members of her family the day after she learned the film would be shown at Cannes.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the strike targeted a Hamas operative involved in attacks on soldiers and civilians.
“She should have been here tonight with us,” an emotional Binoche said at the opening ceremony.
The growing protest comes after several days of mounting bloodshed in the Palestinian territory, with Hamas authorities saying 120 people were killed on Thursday and at least 50 on Friday. The figures cannot be independently confirmed and do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
“Schindler’s List” star Ralph Fiennes as well as Richard Gere, Mark Ruffalo, Guy Pearce, Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem, and directors David Cronenberg, Pedro Almodovar, Alfonso Cuaron and Mike Leigh said they were “ashamed” of their industry’s failure to speak out about Gaza in the original letter.
In her Cannes speech Tuesday, Binoche also referenced the Israeli hostages taken by Palestinian group Hamas in its October 7, 2023, assault on Israel, which sparked the Gaza war.
“Sicko” and “Bowling for Columbine” director Michael Moore and French actor Camille Cottin of “Call My Agent” fame are among other entertainment industry figures who have added their names to the letter since Tuesday.