Isabelle Huppert, Marion Cotillard, and More Cut Their Hair in Solidarity With Women in Iran

Isabelle Huppert, the actor whose striking auburn waves are a familiar sight on red carpets around the world, is among scores of French stars who have filmed themselves cutting off chunks of their hair in solidarity with women in Iran. 

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody last month has triggered widespread anti-government protests in the country and elsewhere across the world, with demonstrators taking to the streets in London at the weekend in a show of solidarity for Iranian women and their plight. Mahsa was arrested by morality police for failing to wear the hijab and taken to a re-education center for lessons in modesty, CNN said. Three days later she died in custody. In the weeks since, women in Iran have been removing their headscarves and cutting their hair. 

This week, some of the most high-profile women in French cinema joined them. A video shared widely online opens with Juliette Binoche, the Oscar-winning star of The English Patient, declaring “For freedom”, before cutting off locks of her hair with scissors. Further clips follow, from Marion Cotillard, Isabelle Adjani, Huppert, and more. The British stars Charlotte Rampling and Jane Birkin are also featured, with Birkin joined by her daughter, the Chanel muse Charlotte Gainsbourg, in her clip.