Laura Blajman Kadar, who survived the massacre at the Nova Music Festival on October 7, walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday wearing a yellow dress that showed pictures of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, including Yarden Bibas, Liri Albag, and two of her close friends: Elkana Bohbot, and Eliya Cohen.
On the dress hung a black ribbon with the inscription "Bring Them Home." In a post she published on social media, Blajman Kadar wrote: " 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, a French organization dedicated to raising awareness for the release of the hostages.
"I've been traveling around Europe for several months, and together with the October 7 Collective, we decided to act at the Cannes festival," Blajman Kadar told Ynet. "Many people participated in designing the dress and in helping to gain tickets for the event. I received them via a body that prefers to stay behind the scenes and doesn’t want to be involved in what is called 'provocation' here. There are many good people behind the scenes."
Blajman Kadar says the festival’s organizers didn’t allow her to walk on the red carpet like most of the stars who arrived and some of the guests, but did allow her to enter the hall through the famous stairs and take photos there.
In the hall, she said she received support and warm welcomes from many guests. "There were no negative reactions," she added. "It was very important for us to have a representation there to call for the release of the captives, especially in a year when there’s also no adequate representation for Israeli cinema in the event."
Blajman Kadar survived the massacre at the Nova Music Festival on October 7. She, her husband, and several of their friends found refuge in their caravan, where they hid for six hours. "I wasn't supposed to be alive right now. Hamas did everything in its power to kill me," she said in an interview with Channel 13.
Since October 7, she has been active in Israeli advocacy and also visited the European Parliament in Brussels, where she met with foreign diplomats and recounted her personal story repeatedly. Two months ago, Blajman Kadar published a book in which she exposed the horrors of the massacre.
"I’m very familiar with southern Israel and knew there were no hiding places in the vast forest where we were staying. We also realized that we couldn't take the car because there were terrorists everywhere on the road," she recounted in an interview with France Info in March.
"When we the caravan to hide, there were still no terrorists around us. We heard gunfire from a distance, and two to three minutes later, we heard the terrorists approaching, shouting 'Allahu Akbar' and starting to shoot. We could hear people screaming and falling to the ground."
She concluded the interview by saying she hopes for the return of the hostages held by Hamas for the last seven months. "I'm sad that my friends are still held as bargaining chips in Gaza and that the war is still ongoing," she said.
After leaving the premiere of “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” on Monday, she said she felt like she was reliving October 7. "It's not a movie you should watch after the tough experience I went through. There are scenes of people being mutilated and abducted on motorcycles. We experienced things very close to those that happened in the movie. Personally, it was tough for me."