A ribbon with "Bring Them Home" written on it was confiscated from former Gaza hostage Mia Schem by security guards at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, Schem told N12.
"I came to help in the struggle to bring the hostages back,” Schem told N12.
“Unfortunately, upon arriving at the red carpet, the festival management confiscated the ribbon I was supposed to wear. I refused to give up. I took the yellow hostage pin from one of the delegation members and wore it on my dress," she stated.
Schem was invited to Cannes Film Festival by the local Jewish community, and on Friday, was hosted by the Mayor of Nice, where she spoke at the city council.
Over the 10-day festival, multiple protests against Israel occurred, including one led by twin directors Arab and Tarzan Nasser during a screening of their film "Once Upon a Time in Gaza."
"Gaza is undergoing the greatest and most horrific genocide in modern history,” the directors stated.
In another instance, Australian editor Julian Assange attended a festival event wearing a jacket that read "Stop Israel" and a shirt listing approximately 5,000 names of children allegedly killed by the IDF since 2023.
Arab-Israeli film wins short film award
The film "I'm Glad You're Dead Now" by Arab-Israeli director, screenwriter, and actor Tawfik Barhom won the Palme d'Or for Best Short Film at the festival.
Additionally, Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s film "It Was Just an Accident" won the Palme d'Or for Best Feature Film.
The movie follows five characters who believe they’ve identified the prosecutor who tortured them during their detention, but since their eyes were covered in prison, no one can be absolutely sure that the man in custody is the right one.
Panahi was barred from filmmaking for 15 years by the government in Tehran.