Cineastes put spotlight on Gaza at 77th Cannes Film Festival

Despite the Cannes Film Festival's efforts to turn a blind eye to Palestine, some participating cineastes put the spotlight on Gaza at the 77th edition of the French event. 

Some of the attending filmmakers, actors and activists turned the gala into a platform to highlight Gaza.

While the festival organizers discouraged protests, the artists found creative ways to express their solidarity with the Palestinians and draw attention to the war-ravaged enclave.

In a tent on the beach at Cannes, Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi showed short films made in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict. The films were about the lives of people affected by the war and highlighted the resilience of people in Gaza.

French actor Omar Sy, who was on the festival's jury, took to social media to condemn the violence against children in Gaza. 
“There is nothing that justifies the killing of children in Gaza or anywhere else,” he posted.

Italian actress Jasmine Trinca showed her support by wearing a badge of the Palestinian flag.

Australian actor Guy Pearce wore a bracelet made up of the colors of the Palestinian flag.

Moroccan director Asmae El Moudir posed for journalists and showed the Palestinian flag sewn onto her glove.

The Indian actress Kani Kusruti attended the premiere of her film at the festival with a handbag in the shape of a watermelon slice and the French actress of Algerian origin Leila Bekhti wore a brooch with a watermelon motif. The watermelon is a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians.

British actress Pascale Kann wore a dress with Arabic writing that read “Palestine”.

After the screening of the film "To a Land Unknown" by Danish-Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel “on May 22, the main actors who were Palestinian, came on stage together with a handful of activists and waved the Palestinian flags.

The Algerian pavilion in Cannes supported Gaza under a Palestinian flag, where those present observed a minute's silence in memory of the tens of thousands of people who have been killed in Gaza since the war began.

Lubna Azabal, the Jury President of La Cinef & Short Films, called for “the liberation of all hostages with no conditions and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza” at the closing ceremony.

Lebanese actress, director and festival jury member Nadine Labaki spoke of a “divided world” and condemned the violence in the region.

Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians so far.

Resistance groups in Palestine and across the region continue their operations against the Tel Aviv regime and its Western backers.

The 77th Cannes Film Festival was held on May 14-25.

MG/AG