Hiam Abbass's tears of joy at the Itinérances festival award ceremony

Hiam Abbass : “Je pensais être plus forte que les larmes.” Midi Libre – Paul Barraud

La comédienne et réalisatrice a reçu, avec beaucoup d’émotions, le prix du festival de cinéma d’Alès, ce jeudi 28 mars sur la scène du Cratère.

C’is surrounded by his loved ones, and especially by his daughter, the actress and filmmaker Lina Soualem, whom Hiam Abbass received this Thursday, March 28, in front of the public at the Cratère, the prize from the Itinérances festival which wants to honor his presence and his career in the world of cinema.

For the children of Gaza, and for all the others

A prize awarded after a surprise musical outburst from pianist Jean-François Zygel, who demonstrated his talent with an improvisation around the music from the credits of Succession, an American series in which Hiam Abbass plays the main role .

But it was after a video message from Brian Cox, his partner in the series, and especially from the director brothers Tarzan and Arab Nasser, natives of Gaza, that Hiam Abbas sent words of thanks, with a facial expression. marked by emotion.

"I thought I was stronger than tears, she admitted to the audience. When I see the Nasser brothers, I can't help but think of Gaza, and of all the children who were unable to live their lives to realize their dreams. It is to them that I dedicate this prize."

While warmly thanking the public, "without you who I am ?", Hiam Abbass, 63, was carried away by the joy of seeing so many young people and adolescents in the room. "What I leave behind, I offer to you as a gift. Please don't give in. Continue."

After the ceremony, the public attended the screening of Les Citronniers, a 2008 film by Eran Riklis, where Hiam Abbass plays a Palestinian lemon farmer whose plantation is threatened by her new neighbor, the Israeli Minister of Defense. Additional echo of the current conflict in the Middle East, whose barbarity revolts, like many others, this ambassador of the seventh art.