Country
France, Palestina
Year
2025
Language
English, Arabic spoken, Dutch subtitles
Actors
Fatma Hassona, Sepideh Farsi
Director
Sepideh Farsi
Duration
113 min
When Iranian film director Sepideh Farsi attempted to travel to the Gaza Strip in April 2024, she was denied entry at the border. Her idea to capture life under Israeli siege seemed to come to an end — until she connected with Fatima “Fatma” Hasouna, a young, talented photojournalist from Gaza City, who became her eyes in the devastated region.
Through video calls, the two women spoke about the young photographer’s life: her remarkable vitality, her hopes, her fears, and her tears. From Fatma’s home, a rare human perspective on an inhuman existence unfolded, as she simultaneously reported on the bombings and destruction. For more than 200 days, the women stayed in touch — until Fatma and her family were killed in an Israeli airstrike, just one day after the film’s selection for Cannes was announced.
Put Your Soul on Your Hand is an urgent and moving portrait of a young woman who laughs, mourns, loves, and keeps dreaming in the midst of war. Sepideh Farsi’s documentary blends raw immediacy with intimate conversations, revealing daily life during the war through video calls and Fatma’s striking photographic reports. The killing of Fatma and her family on April 16, 2025, forever changed the meaning of the film; her voice and images now stand as a powerful tribute to all lives under fire — a tribute that will echo far beyond the film world after its premiere in Cannes.
5 to 19 September 2025
Fatma Hassouna, a freelance photojournalist nicknamed ‘the eye of Gaza,’ was born in Gaza in March 2000. She earned a degree in multimedia studies from the University of Applied Arts in Gaza and was determined to document life in Gaza until her very last breath.
On 16 April 2025, at 1:00 a.m., Fatma was killed by Israeli missiles that struck her home in the Al-Tuffah neighbourhood of the Gaza Strip. She died along with six family members, including her sister, who was six months pregnant, and her ten-year-old brother. A few weeks before her death, Fatma told her fiancé, Motaz, that if she died, her photos should be shared: ‘Let them scream for me, tell my story, show what I saw and what I couldn't save.’
With her family's permission, we are showing Fatma's last photo collection, A City of Ghosts, in the mini-exhibition The Eye of Gaza, which is on display on the 4th floor near the Forum Shop. You don't need a ticket to view Fatma's collection.
There are no new dates planned (yet) for Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk.
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