Given the abundance of sequels, reboots and remakes, someone recently asked me if we’ve run out of interesting stories to tell on screen.  My answer was a simple no.  There are millions of worthy events that happen every day in the world, both good and bad.  The hard part is finding filmmakers, investors and publicists who have the passion… and the money.  To quote the late film critic Roger Ebert, getting any movie made is a “small miracle”.

Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk is a documentary from Sepideh Farsi, an Iranian-born woman who now resides in France.  To describe her as “courageous” would be an understatement.  In 2009, she was unable to get permission from the Iranian government to shoot a doco about life in Tehran and so she covertly made one using an old Nokia camera phone.  In 2023, she won the Asia Pacific Screen Award for best animated feature in telling the story of a boy and his grandfather caught up in the Iran-Iraq War.

This new movie has become her most talked-about project.  She was looking to shoot a documentary about the Israel-Palestine war in Gaza but, prohibited from travelling there, she instead developed a friendship with 25-year-old Palestinean photographer, Fatima Hassouna.  The film is largely a series of Facetime chats between the pair as Hassouna talks about her existence.  They’re spread across several months and they include uplifting conversations about her background and family, and depressing conversations about a lack of food, internet and shelter. 

There’s added context which, I believe, is important for audiences to know going in.  On 15 April 2025, Farsi learned that her completed movie had been selected for the Association of the Distribution of Independent Cinema section at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.  She spoke to Hassouna that same day and, having never met in person, they discussed the idea of attending the festival together to help promote to the world.  Hours later, Hassouna was killed when an Israeli missile struck her home in Northern Gaza.  It led to hundreds of actors, directors and producers signing an open letter stating, “we cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza.”

Despite the important context, I realise not everyone is going to interested in a two-hour documentary consisting largely of iPhone calls that keep cutting out due to a poor internet connection.  I’ve listened to podcasts featuring folks caught up in the war which are equally effective in telling the tales of ordinary people caught up in an unspeakable tragedy.  Still, it’s a powerful film where the emotion builds with each scene.  The more we get to know Hassouna, the sadder it feels knowing her fate.

Receiving a limited release in Australian cinemas, the suitably titled Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk is a reminder that we all have a story worth telling.