Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard Share Iran Protest Video

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Charlotte Gainsbourg and Isabelle Adjani also star in the viral Instagram video.

Following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Iran, more than 50 French artists have joined forces to show their support for the ongoing protests in Iran.

Amini died in police custody on September 16 after being arrested for failing to wear her hijab properly to fully cover her hair. Iranian police said she died of a heart attack, but eyewitnesses claim she was beaten to death. Women around the world have since clipped a strand of their hair with #HairForFreedom to show their support for Amini and their solidarity with Iranian women living under the Islamic Republic’s strict theocratic rule.

Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard, Isabelle Huppert, Isabelle Adjani and Charlotte Gainsbourg were among the French actresses who cut their hair in a viral Instagram video. Binoche says “for freedom” when she blindly cuts the hair on her head. A Persian version of the Italian anti-fascist resistance ballad “Bella Ciao” is performed by Iranian artist Gandom in the background, while the last artist featured in the video is “Persepolis” creator Marjane Satrapi, a Franco-Iranian artist and director who wrote it award-winning graphic novel and its film adaptation.

“Since Mahsa’s death on September 16, the Iranian people, led by women, have been protesting at the risk of their lives,” reads the caption. “These people hope only for access to the most basic freedoms. These women, these men are asking for our support.”

The post continues, “Her courage and dignity oblige us [to act]. It is impossible not to keep denouncing this terrible oppression. There were dozens of deaths, including children. The arrests add to the number of prisoners already held illegally and all too often tortured. We decided to answer the call that was brought to us by cutting some of those locks.”

The initiative was launched by international human rights lawyer Richard Sedillot in collaboration with French lawyers Julie Couturier and Christiane Feral Schuhl. The video campaign follows an open letter signed by more than 1,000 members of French cinema in support of the protests in Iran.

Among the signatories were Catherine Corsini, Alice Diop, Audrey Diwan, Julia Ducournau, Eva Husson, Alice Winocour, Rebecca Zlotowski, Jacques Audiard, Nicolas Bedos, Bertrand Bonello and Dany Boon, as well as Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate of Cannes.

IndieWire recently spoke to Isabelle Huppert here.

Earlier this year, Iranian filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Al-Ahmad were arrested for posting statements on social media about government-sanctioned violence.

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