“Die My Love” star Jennifer Lawrence used her platform at the San Sebastián International Film Festival on Friday to condemn the devastation taking place in Gaza, calling it “no less than a genocide.”
“I’m terrified and it’s mortifying. What’s happening is no less than a genocide and it’s unacceptable,” she said, per media reports. “I’m terrified for my children, for all of our children.”
“I wish that there was something I could say, something that I could do to fix this extremely complex and disgraceful situation. It breaks my heart,” the Oscar winner added. “But the reality is, our fear in speaking too much or answering too many of these questions is that my words will just be used to add more fire and rhetoric to something that is in the hands of our elected officials.”
“The kids who are voting right now at 18, it’s going to be totally normal to them that politics has no integrity; politicians lie, there is no empathy,” Lawrence continued. “And everybody needs to remember that when you ignore what’s happening on one side of the world, it won’t be long until it’s on your side as well.”
She further noted, “Our Freedom of Speech and expression is under attack and I think the world of cinema and using your voice in artistic ways, having festivals like this where we can learn from each other and realize we are all connected and matter and deserve empathy and freedom is important.”
Lawrence’s comments come after the SSIFF itself demanded a cease-fire and the release of all hostages in an open letter to Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the festival.
“We believe it is necessary to publicly state our rejection of the genocide, of the unimaginable massacres to which the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu is subjecting the Palestinian people since Hamas perpetrated the terrorist attack of 7 October 2023 which, we of course, also condemn,” SSIFF organizers wrote.
“They are killing the Palestinian civilian population. They are killing boys and girls. They are killing journalists and humanitarian workers. They are using starvation as a weapon. They are preventing and hindering access to humanitarian aid. They are forcing the mass displacement of the Palestinian population. They are razing buildings to the ground. They are bombing hospitals too,” they continued. “They humiliate, conquer, squash. They are destroying Gaza. They scorn international legality. So much atrocity, so much terror is unbearable. We are beside ourselves with anger and pain at such injustice.”
The 2025 San Sebastián International Film Festival began on Sept. 19 and ends on Saturday in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
“Die My Love” hits theaters on Nov. 7 after first premiering at Cannes.
