Category: Sundance film festival
Sundance VIPs take 10-minute protest break in between screenings
What one report called “arguably the shortest of protests in recent memory” rocked the Sundance Film Festival for about 10 minutes on Sunday evening, as around 100 people gathered in Park City to voice their opposition to the ICE raids in Minnesota.
The diminutive demonstration echoed statements made by big-name festival attendees like Edward Norton and Olivia Wilde
‘Turn on your phone light for a minute or two.’
‘Melt’ down
Actress Natasha Lyonne posted a promotional flyer for the event, called “Sundancers Melt Ice,” which read, “Join us tonight to remember Alex Pretti and Renee Good” and “quietly register our collective protest.”
Pretti was recently shot and killed by federal agents during a violent scrum, while Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent as she hit him with her car.
“Turn on your phone light for a minute or two,” the flyer added. “Silent, respectful, together.”
Chants encounter
The 10-minute event included protesters chanting “Love melts Ice! Love melts Ice!” according to Deadline, which noted that actor Elijah Wood (“Lord of the Rings”) turned out to offer his support.
“The folks who have been unlawfully gunned down in Minnesota — it’s awful,” Wood said.
“Here we are at this film festival that is about bringing people together; it’s about telling stories from all over the world. We’re not divided here; we’re coming together,” he continued.
Christina House/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Sign decline
The film festival is no stranger to progressive protests; in 2024, demonstrators flooded the streets of the small town to protest on behalf of Palestine, holding signs like “stop the genocide” and “end the occupation.”
“Ceasefire, now!” was chanted by the group, followed by “Free Palestine!”
In 2017, Sundance saw what is recognized as likely the largest protest to take place in Park City, when between 5,000 and 7,000 showed up on Main Street for a “Women’s March on Main,” the day after President Trump was inaugurated for his first term.
