Screening of Raw Footage From Oct. 7 Hamas Attacks Cancelled at Cannes Due to ‘Security Threat’

A private screening of a film about the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel that was set to take place on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival was cancelled on Tuesday after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) notified organizers about a security threat, Variety reported.

WestEnd Films Co-Founder Sharon Harel-Cohen organized a screening on May 17 of the 47-minute film Bearing Witness to the October 7 Massacre, which features raw, firsthand footage from the Oct. 7 massacre captured by video surveillance, body cameras, and cellphones of Hamas terrorists and IDF soldiers. A small group of members of the film industry were invited to the screening and it was scheduled separate from the Cannes Film Festival, which is taking place at the Palais des Festivals in France with heightened security measures this year.

The invitation for the screening noted that “for security reasons the location will be released only a few days before the event, to registered participants only.” It was set to take place at the Exclusive Hotel Belle Plage, which is roughly a mile from the Palais, and attendees were asked not to tell others about the location. But then the screening was abruptly called off.

“About an hour before, we received an order from the IDF not to hold the screening due to a security threat,” WestEnd Films Co-Founder Maya Amsellem told Variety. “We have not heard any additional details.”

“There’s not much you can do,” Harel-Cohen told the publication. “When you get word that there is a security issue from the IDF, that’s it. It was an opportunity. It’s really a pity.” Harel-Cohen added that she will not try to hold another screening of Bearing Witness during the Cannes Film Festival, which ends Saturday.

However, sources told Variety that the screening was cancelled because the IDF asked for permission to organize the viewing a mere two hours before it was scheduled to take place and the screening did not follow security protocol.

The Algemeiner previously reported that violence broke out between pro- and anti-Israel protesters in November outside a screening for Bearing Witness in Los Angeles that was attended by Hollywood executives and other high-profile members of the film and television industry.

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