Former Hamas Captive Has Hostage Pin Confiscated at Cannes as Over 900 Filmmakers, Actors Accuse Israel of ‘Genocide’

Shiryn Ghermezian

A woman takes a picture of one of the official double poster featuring a joint tribute to the two actors Anouk Aimee and Jean-Louis Trintignant in the film “A Man and a Woman” (Un homme et une femme), on the Festival Palace before the opening of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Former Hamas hostage Mia Schem said management at the 78th Cannes Film Festival confiscated a pin in support of the remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip that she intended to wear on the red carpet of the festival’s closing ceremony on Saturday.

Schem told Israel’s N12 that at the entrance of the red carpet, members of the security team at Cannes told her she was forbidden from wearing a ribbon that said “Bring Them Home Now,” a rallying call for the immediate return of the hostages still held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza after being kidnapped during the terror group’s deadly rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. After her pin was confiscated, Schem took another pin, featuring a yellow ribbon in support of the hostages, from a member of the Israeli delegation and wore it on her dress while walking the red carpet.

“I came to help in the fight to return the kidnapped,” she told N12. “Unfortunately, at the entrance to the red carpet, the festival management confiscated the ribbon that I was supposed to wear. I did not agree to give it up. I took the yellow hostage pin from one of the members of the delegation and wore it on my dress.”

Schem was invited to attend Cannes by the local Jewish community to raise awareness about the hostages who remain in Gaza. A day before the incident at Cannes, she was hosted by the mayor of Nice and spoke before the city council.

Leading up to the Cannes Film Festival this year, an open letter condemning the movie industry for remaining silent about the alleged “genocide” taking place in Gaza was published and signed by members of the film industry. The letter was initially signed by a little more than 300 filmmakers and actors, but by the end of the festival on Saturday, more than 900 people had signed the letter. The signatories include Juliette Binoche, who chaired the jury at Cannes this year; French actress Catherine Deneuve; “Schindler’s List” star Ralph Fiennes; British director Danny Boyle; actresses Susan Sarandon and Rooney Mara; and actors Mark Ruffalo, Pedro Pascal, Javier Bardem, Richard Gere, and Joaquin Phoenix.

The open letter was published by an initiative called “Artists for Fatem,” which refers to Fatima (“Fatem”) Hassona, a 25-year-old Palestinian freelance photojournalist who was the subject of the documentary “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” that premiered as part of the ACID Cannes selection. Hassona and 10 of her family members were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month.

Palestinian twin brothers and directors Arab and Tarzan Nasser won the best director award on Friday in the Un Certain Regard section for their crime thriller “Once Upon a Time in Gaza.” During the film’s premiere, the Gaza-born brothers reportedly criticized Israel, claiming that “Gaza is undergoing the greatest and most horrific genocide in modern history.” They dedicated their best director win to Palestinians and said in their acceptance speech: “Soon Palestinians will be free, Insha’Allah.”

“I’m Glad You’re Dead Now” — a film by Palestinian-Israeli director, screenwriter, and actor Tawfeek Barhom — won the Palme d’Or award in the short film category at Cannes on Saturday night. Barhom directed, wrote, and starred in the film. At a press conference after receiving the Palme d’Or award for best short film, he dedicated his win to “Palestine.”

“The liberation of people shouldn’t antagonize anyone else. There’s very big difference between liberation and peace,” he said. “This is for Palestine and for peace and enough with hate. Let’s stop this madness.”

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange walked the red carpet at Cannes last week wearing a hunter green button-down shirt that said “Stop Israel” on the back. He wore the shirt open over a white shirt that included the names of almost 5,000 children who were allegedly killed by Israel in Gaza. He attended Cannes to support “The Six Billion Dollar Man,” a new documentary about his life that is directed by American filmmaker Eugene Jarecki. The filmmaker was awarded the first-ever Golden Globe Prize for Documentary at Cannes.