Former Hostage Mia Schem Defies Cannes: “They Took My Ribbon, I Kept Fighting” 

The 78th Cannes Film Festival wrapped up yesterday.

It got a little too real when security guards swiped a “Bring Them Home” ribbon from Mia Schem, a former Gaza hostage who spent 54 days captive after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack. Brought to Cannes by the local Jewish community to spotlight the 101 Israelis still held hostage, Schem wasn’t fazed. She hit the red carpet, and after the ribbon was taken, she grabbed a yellow hostage pin from a delegation member and rocked it on her dress.

“I’m here to fight for the hostages’ return,” Schem told N12, brushing off the incident. “They took my ribbon, but I wasn’t giving in. I put on that yellow pin and kept going.” Her defiance echoed her Friday speech at the Nice City Council, hosted by Mayor Christian Estrosi, where she pushed for action to free the captives.

The ribbon drama unfolded amid a festival buzzing with anti-Israel vibes. On May 19, directors Arab and Tarzan Nasser stirred up a protest during their film Once Upon a Time in Gaza, calling Gaza’s situation “the greatest and most horrific genocide in modern history.” Australian editor Julian Assange also made waves, sporting a “Stop Israel” jacket and a shirt listing about 5,000 names of kids he says were killed by the IDF since 2023.

Schem’s yellow pin spoke volumes, keeping the hostages’ plight in the spotlight and showing the world she won’t be hushed.