Private Cannes Screening of Hamas Attack Film Canceled Due to ‘Security Threat’

Tomás Mier
·1 min read
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Israeli troops search the scene of a Palestinian militant attack in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza on the border with the Gaza Strip on October 11, 2023. - Credit: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli troops search the scene of a Palestinian militant attack in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza on the border with the Gaza Strip on October 11, 2023. - Credit: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images

A planned screening of the film Bearing Witness about the Hamas attack on an Israel music festival in Cannes was canceled Tuesday, with organizers claiming it was due to a security threat, Variety reports.

“About an hour before, we received an order from the [Israeli Defense Forces] not to hold the screening due to a security threat,” WestEnd Films co-founder Maya Amsellem told the outlet. “We have not heard any additional details.”

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Sources, however, told Variety that the IDF had only been asked for permission to host the screening two hours before it was scheduled and that organizers did not follow the security protocol.

Sharon Harel-Cohen, WestEnd Films’ co-founder, had organized the now-canceled screening — separate from the actual film festival — for a group of people in the industry in Cannes. The 47-minute film was set to show raw footage from the Oct. 7 attacks, including CCTV and bodycam images.

“There’s not much you can do. When you get word that there is a security issue from the IDF, that’s it. It was an opportunity,” Harel-Cohen added. ” It’s really a pity.” (Harel-Cohen did not comment to Variety about the “security protocol” reporting.)

Bearing Witness will no longer be played in Cannes. Over the weekend, the festival hosted a Cannes Chabbat with nearly 100 guests without any issues, according to Variety.

Producers for Bearing Witness hosted a screening in Los Angeles back in November. The screening saw protests and clashes between protestors outside of the building.

According to the United Nations, at least 35,233 Palestinians have been killed since Israel started attacking the country after the terrorist group Hamas took in over 200 hostages and killed 1,400.

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