Don’t be surprised if Iranian director Sepideh Farsi’s documentary “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” ends up on several critics’ top films of 2025 lists later this year. A powerful document of life in Gaza during the ongoing Israeli military invasion, it’s also a tragic obituary for Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, the film’s subject who died this past April.
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Told through video calls between Farsi and Hassona, “Put Your Soul In Your Hand And Walk” depicts life in Gaza in the midst of Israel’s ongoing military campaign, and a young woman’s passionate attempts to document it for the rest of the world.
Here’s an official synopsis for “Put Your Soul In Your Hand And Walk,” courtesy of Kino Lorber:
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk offers an intimate, first-hand perspective on life under siege in Gaza, captured through video calls between director Sepideh Farsi and 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist and poet Fatma Hassona. Combining raw immediacy with deep humanity, the film captures daily life during the ongoing war on Gaza through the eyes and unwaveringly optimistic presence of Fatma, a talented photographer whose generation is trapped in an endless cycle of war, starvation, and resistance. Her conversations with Farsi bring us into the heart of the conflict, even while their physical distance underscores the dire situation inside Gaza.
Farsi’s doc had its world premiere in the ACID sections of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in May. On April 16, just one day after its selection for the festival, Hassona and nine of her family members were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Hassona’s death sparked outcry from both the festival and an open letter published in the run-up to Cannes condemning her murder, signed by over 350 actors, directors, and producers. The film also screened at TIFF last month and at NYFF now.
“Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk” hits IFC Center in NYC on November 5 before expanding to LA theaters and other cities on November 14. Watch a trailer for the film below.
