It was organised by Cinema for Gaza, a group launched by a small group of female filmmakers and film journalists. Celebrities like Tilda Swinton, Annie Lennox, Joaquin Phoenix, Spike Lee and Guillermo del Toro participated in the event.

The amount was raised for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), a UK-based charity that provides on-the-ground medical support, from sterile water to cancer drugs, for those on the Gaza Strip.

The celebrities donated personal items — from signed film posters to personal Zoom chats to, in the case of Lennox, the handwritten lyrics to her Eurythmics hit “Sweet Dreams” — to be sold off to the highest bidder.

Lennox’s lyrics sheet was the top seller, with a bidder paying $26,222 for the piece of pop music history

Oscar-winner Phoenix donated a signed Joker poster. Del Toro contributed six signed books. Lee kicked in with a signed, framed poster of Malcolm X.

The local health authority in Gaza reports over 33,000 Palestinian casualties in Israeli retaliation to Hamas’ October 7 attack, which resulted in more than 1,100 Israeli fatalities.