Joaquin Phoenix, Guillermo del Toro, Juliette Binoche, Riz Ahmed, Jim Jarmusch and Michael Moore are among the list of stars and filmmakers who added their names Thursday to an open letter published this week condemning the entertainment industry for its “silence” over the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The letter, which was published Tuesday in French on the website for France’s Libération newspaper, was intentionally released on the opening day of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Binoche, who has since added her name to the letter, is serving as president of the festival’s jury this year.
“Since the terrible massacres of 7 October 2023, no foreign journalist has been authorised to enter the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army is targeting civilians. More than 200 journalists have been deliberately killed. Writers, filmmakers and artists are being brutally murdered,” the letter stated.
The document’s 300+ original signatories included Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Susan Sarandon, Viggo Mortensen, Guy Pearce, Brian Cox, Pedro Almodóvar, Melissa Barrera, David Cronenberg and many others. In addition to the aforementioned Phoenix, del Toro, Binoche, Ahmed, Jarmusch and Moore, Rooney Mara, Omar Sy, “Conclave” screenwriter Peter Straughan, Boots Riley, Alice Rohrwacher, Arian Moayed, Odessa Rae, Adèle Haenel, Noémie Merlant and others have all added their names to the letter.
The letter specifically cited the death of Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona, who was killed along with 10 of her relatives, including her pregnant sister, in a targeted strike by the Israeli army on April 16. Hassona is the subject of filmmaker Sepideh Farsi’s new documentary, “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,” which is playing in the Cannes Film Festival’s ACID section this year. She was killed the day after the film’s Cannes selection was announced.
The letter also mentioned Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, who won the 2025 Best Documentary Feature Oscar for his film “No Other Land.” In March, Ballal was attacked and taken into captivity by Israeli soldiers, but was subsequently released after the mass, international outcry over his treatment. The Academy, for its part, released an apology after it was criticized by hundreds of its own members for failing to publicly support Ballal at the time.
Tuesday’s open letter slammed “such passivity” and asked, “Why is it that cinema, a breeding ground for socially committed works, seems to be so indifferent to the horror of reality and the oppression suffered by our sisters and brothers?”
“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,” the letter continued. “Let’s refuse to let our art be an accomplice to the worst.”
You can read the full list of new signatories below:
Riz Ahmed, Tomas Alfredson, Jalal Al Tawil, Franco Angeli, Tiziana Aristarco, Antoine Barraud, Jacob Berger, Julie Bertuccelli, Juliette Binoche, Massimo Bosco, Djanis Bouzyani, Carter Burwell, Robin Campillo, Laure de Clermont Tonnerre, Camille Cottin, Claudio Cupellini, Alessio Cremonini, Daria D’Antonio, Claudia Della Seta, Stéphane Demoustier, Niccolò Falsetti, Pablo Garcia Canga, Fiona Godivier, Adèle Haenel, Billy Howle, Tewfik Jallab, Jim Jarmusch, Dhafer L’Abidine, Line Langebek, Fernando León, Marie-Ange Luciani, Andrea Manni, Rooney Mara, Vinicio Marchioni, Valerio Mastandrea, Xavier Mathieu, Noémie Merlant, Sepideh Moafi, Arian Moayed, Michael Moore, Margherita Murolo, Laura Muscardin, Annie Ohayon, Gilles Perret, Edoardo Pesce, Joaquin Phoenix, Odessa Rae, Alice Rohrwacher, Alessandro Roja, Lyes Salem, Greta Scarano, Peter Straughan, Omar Sy, Guillaume de Tonquedec, Giuseppe Tornatore, Élie Wajeman, Eléonore Weber and Arieh Worthalter
