Pedro Almodóvar, Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem, Richard Gere y 380 artistas denuncian el «genocidio» en Gaza.

On Tuesday, May 13th, the Cannes Film Festival will begin, extending for the next 24 days of this month. On the eve of the competition’s start, 380 figures from the film industry, including Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Pedro Almodovar, Mark Ruffalo, David Cronenberg, Costa-Gavras, and Javier Bardem, have released an open letter denouncing the «genocide» in Gaza and condemning the «silence» surrounding the impact of Israel’s current military offensive.

The letter, published on May 12th on the French newspaper Liberion’s website, is titled: «In Cannes, the horror of Gaza must not be silenced.» The text is dedicated to Fatima, a 25-year-old artist and photojournalist who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in mid-April.

«He was a Palestinian photojournalist. He was attacked by the Israeli army on April 16, 2025, a day after it was announced that the film ‘Put Your Soul in Your Hand and Go’ was selected in the acid section of the Cannes Film Festival, in which he was the protagonist. He was about to get married,» the letter states.

«Since the terrible massacres of October 7, 2023, no foreign journalist has been allowed to enter the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army is attacking civilians. Over 200 journalists have been deliberately killed. Writers, filmmakers, and artists are being brutally murdered,» it adds.

The letter also mentions the Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, an Oscar winner for his film ‘There Is No Other Earth,’ co-directed with Yuval Abraham, Basilea Adra, and Rachel Sler, emphasizing: «He was brutally attacked by Israeli settlers and later kidnapped by the army, before being released due to international pressure. The lack of support from the Oscar Academy for Hamdan Ballal caused a wave of outrage among its own members, prompting the institution to publicly request its inaction. We are complicit in a shameful passivity.»

The text highlights the power of cinema to create social awareness and laments that the industry has taken an «indifferent stance» towards the horrors faced by our brothers and sisters.

«As artists and cultural agents, we cannot remain silent while a genocide is taking place in Gaza. This unbearable reality deeply affects our communities,» the letter stresses, emphasizing the need to «learn from history and make committed films» and encouraging to fight against extremism, fascism, colonialism, anti-trans and anti-LGBTQIA sentiments, sexism, racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism, and to reject propaganda.

«We reject that our art is complicit in the worst,» the text concludes, urging action before it’s too late.

In addition to the actors mentioned, stars like Leïla Bekhti, Laura Poitras, Ruben Östlund, and Ira Sachs have also supported the cause.

FUENTE