Oct. 7 Supernova survivor attends Cannes Film Festival in gown paying tribute to Hamas hostages

She thanked the October 7 Collective, a French organization dedicated to helping hostages, for making her appearance at the Cannes Film Festival possible.

By Shiryn Ghermezian, The Algemeiner

A survivor of the Hamas massacre at the Supernova Music Festival on Oct. 7 attended the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday in a gown that drew attention to the hostages who have been held captive in the Gaza Strip for seven months.

Laura Blajman-Kadar wore a yellow gown that featured pictures of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, including Yarden Bibas, Liri Albag, and two of her friends, Elkana Bohbot and Eliya Cohen. On top of the gown she wore a black slash that read: “Bring Them Home.”

She walked the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the film “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and was accompanied by a woman who wore a white ensemble that had yellow ribbons on it.

The color yellow, and specifically a yellow ribbon, is a longstanding symbol of solidarity with prisoners or hostages — and in this case is a nod to the 132 Israeli hostages who remain in captivity in Gaza since being kidnapped on Oct. 7.

Blajman-Kadar shared on social media a photo of her wearing the gown at the Cannes Film Festival and wrote in the caption, “It wasn’t easy but with the help of amazing people we succeeded! We will not allow the world to forget you!!! BRING THEM HOME!!!”

She also thanked the October 7 Collective, which is a French organization dedicated to raising awareness about the release of the hostages. The organization helped Blajman-Kadar with her appearance at the Cannes Film Festival.

“A lot of people participated in the design of the dress and in helping to get tickets for the ceremony,” she told Ynet. “I got them through someone who wants to stay behind the scenes and does not want to be involved in what is called ‘provocation’ here. There are many good people behind the scenes.”

Beljman-Kader also told the Israeli publication that people in charge at the festival did not allow her to walk on the red carpet like most of the celebrities and some other guests, but they did let her to walk the famous stairs and take a picture on them.

She said once she was inside the hall, her dress garnered positive attention, with many guests congratulating her or voicing support for her efforts to raise awareness regarding the hostages.

“There were no bad reactions,” she explained. “It was very important for us to have representation to call for the release of the kidnapped, certainly in a year when there is also no adequate representation for Israeli cinema.”

The short film “It’s Not Time For Pop” by Amit Vaknin is the only film from Israel taking part in the Cannes Film Festival this year and it will compete in the La Cinéf section, which highlights projects from film schools.

Blajman-Kadar survived the Oct. 7 terrorist attack at the Supernova festival by hiding in a van with six others, including her husband, for six hours. Since the attack, she has traveled the globe advocating for the hostages and sharing her personal story of survival.

She also published a memoir about her experience on Oct. 7 that is titled “Croire en la vie,” which in English means “Believing in Life.”

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and abducted over 250 others during their surprise invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7. Over 100 of the hostages were released in November as part of a temporary ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

After leaving the screening of “Furiosa: The Saga of Mad Max” starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth, Blajman-Kadar said the film was a “harsh” reminder of the Oct. 7 attacks.

“It’s not a movie to watch after the ordeal I went through,” she told Ynet. “It has scenes of people cutting off their limbs and kidnapping them on motorcycles. We experienced things not far from what happened in the movie. For me, personally, it was harsh.”

Cannes Film Festivalhostage dressLaura Blajman-KadarOctober 7 Collective