'Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk', Sepideh Farsi @KinoLorber, Lina Botero Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment With her Gaza documentary Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, director Sepideh Farsi turned a year of shaky video calls into a searing, immediate portrait of life under bombardment - and an elegy for her on-screen collaborator, Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on April 16, 2025, a day after the film's Cannes selection was announced. Premiering May 15 in Cannes' ACID sidebar, the France-Palestine-Iran co-production traces Farsi's efforts to get closer to the conflict when borders made reporting impossible, and finds a singular, resilient voice in Hassona's daily dispatches from Gaza. Related Stories Movies Lee Tamahori, 'Once Were Warriors,' James Bond Director, Dies at 75 Movies Robert Emms on Starring in 'The Choral,' Opposite Ralph Fiennes, and His 'Andor' Experience Built around those calls - punctuated by Hassona's own images - the film sidesteps the usual remove of war docs for something rawer and more intimate, the kind of testimony that has sparked emotional audience responses since Cannes and subsequent European outings. Farsi's film lands in North America - Kino Lorber started its domestic rollout this week with a bow at the IFC Center on Nov. 5 - as New York celebrates the election of its first Muslim mayor, the publicly pro-Palestinian Zohran Mamdani, and amid renewed debate over representation and responsibility in covering Gaza. Farsi spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about reclaiming the Palestinian civilian voice, the challenges of bringing her film to international screens, and how the death of Fatma Hassona continues to shape her own understanding of what art can do in the face of ongoing tragedy. What initially motivated you to make this film, and what did you hope to achieve?I felt very uneasy after the initial October 7 attack. What followed quickly went beyond retaliation and was touching civilians in an unexpected, escalating way. Through weeks and months, I kept noticing one thing: I wasn't hearing the Palestinian voice. I heard American, Israeli, European, Egyptian, and Qatari perspectives-but not Palestinian. I wanted to understand what it means to live under bombardment as a civilian. That became my focus. As an Iranian, I've lived through others speaking about "our" experiences without asking us. It bothered me intellectually and emotionally. Touring with my animation film The Siren, I'd watch different channels in different cities and still others speaking for them. When I finally had time in April, I decided to go. I naively thought I could enter Gaza, which was impossible, but I'm stubborn. I wanted to get as close as I could and see what I could achieve. 'Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk' Kino Lorber Has media coverage changed since you began the project?A little. Very recently, you hear media and institutions tentatively address words like "genocide," but it's still shy, not structured. For months, even questioning what was happening seemed impossible. Everything done by the Israeli army was justified. Criticism is gaining momentum, but it's not enough. The only Palestinians consistently heard are journalists who are then targeted. We know how many have been killed. So, yes, there's been a shift, but it remains timid. What has the audience response been like at early screenings?Very emotional-lots of tears, gratitude, sorrow. One woman said she was enraged at herself and at all of us for being complicit by sitting and letting this happen. The film lets people connect directly to one story that represents many, and to feel how close we are to Palestinians. It opens a space for discussion after nearly two years when many felt silenced, out of fear of losing their jobs, or bans on speaking out. In a cinema, they can cry and talk. The variety of emotions is striking. How has the industry reacted?You never know in advance, but there were some open doors because of the precedent of [Oscar-winning documentary] No Other Land. Still, the landscape has changed. We sold to the United States-Kino Lorber-and to almost all of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Canada. The surprise is Germany: There's been zero distribution interest so far, even though the film screened at the Hamburg Film Festival. Given the public and official reactions there, it doesn't entirely surprise me, but it's still strange when most other European territories are on board. How do you see the gap between official positions and public opinion?The discrepancy is huge. In Germany, public opinion and official positions are separating dramatically. In Israel, you now see public indignation toward the Netanyahu government's politics at a scale that feels new. Of course, I wish