More than 50 French female artists from the world of cinema and music have symbolically cut their hair in a video campaign showing their support for the ongoing protests in Iran calling for more freedom for women following the death of a 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini.

French actresses Isabelle Adjani, Berenice Bejo, Juliette Binoche, Laura Calamy, Marion Cotillard, Julie Gayet, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Isabelle Huppert and Alexandra Lamy were among those who shared images of themselves cutting their hair.

Amini died in police custody on September 16 after being arrested for failing to properly wear her hijab in accordance with the country’s strict religious laws and letting a few strands of hair escape.

Police say she died of a heart attack, but eyewitnesses and people detained with the young woman said she was severely beaten.

Women around the world have cut a lock of hair and posted the act on social media around the world in recent days as a show of solidarity with Iranian women.

The video, hashtagged #HairForFreedomwas posted on Instagram early Wednesday morning.

Binoche kicks off the video, holding her hair up, then cutting off a large chunk, declaring “For freedom” in English.

A Persian version of the Italian anti-fascist resistance song “Bella Ciao” by Iranian artist Gandom, which went viral last week, plays in the backdrop.

The video ends with an image of French-Iranian artist and director Marjane Satrapi, who addressed the issue of women’s rights in Iran in her award-winning graphic novel and feature film adaptation. Persepolis.

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

“Their courage and their dignity compel us [to act]. It is impossible not to denounce again and again this terrible repression. There were dozens of deaths, including children. The arrests add to the number of prisoners already illegally detained and too often tortured. We decided to respond to the call that came to us by cutting some of these locks.

The initiative was initiated by international human rights lawyer Richard Sedillot in cooperation with top French lawyers Julie Couturier and Christiane Feral Schuhl.

The video campaign follows an open letter signed on Tuesday by more than 1,000 figures from the French cinema world supporting the protests in Iran.

Among the signatories were the directors Catherine Corsini, Alice Diop, Audrey Diwan, Julia Ducournau, Eva Husson, Alice Winocour, Rebecca Zlotowski, Jacques Audiard, Nicolas Bedos, Bertrand Bonello, Dany Boon as well as the general delegate of Cannes Thierry Frémaux and personalities sector such as Hengameh Panahi. , Vincent Maraval and Alexandre Mallet-Guy.