@bluewmist Oh, man. You should definitely check out The Butlerian Jihad trilogy! Most Dune fans hate it for some reason, but I think it's such an important read, especially these days!
Palestinian filmmakers have risked their lives and been targeted by Israeli forces and settlers for sharing their stories and participating in film festivals and recognitions. Fatima Hassouna, a photojournalist and the documentary subject of the documentary about her life, “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,” was killed in an Israeli air strike targeting her family home in Gaza City on April 16, 2025, just one day after the 2025 Cannes Film Festival announced the film as an official selection.
Documentarian Awdah Hathaleen, a narrator, producer, and consultant on the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” was shot in the chest and lungs by Israeli settler and bulldozer driver Yinon Levi in Umm Al-Khair, Hebron (West Bank) when Levi fired a handgun toward village residents, killing Hathaleen on July 28, 2025. Israeli forces infiltrated the planned funeral of Hathaleen the next day to snatch his body and arrest 14 Palestinians from his village. An Israeli court upheld Levi’s claims of self-defense — ultimately, Palestinian funeral participants served more time than Hathaleen’s killer did.
Routinely, Palestinians are tortured and killed for even acknowledging the brutality of their circumstances. And those who support the continuation of the brutality against Palestinians are granted impunity, even encouragement.
@Tribeca you say you are “aware of the concerns raised” regarding those who would use their platforms — amplified by your festival — to laugh at and mock the torture of Palestinians. Permitting them to do so with impunity, with zero consequences, reinforces the dehumanization and devaluation of Palestinian life.