Hundreds of protesters marched down Main Street in Park City on Monday during the Sundance Film Festival, chanting anti-ICE slogans and demanding accountability in the wake of the shooting death of Alex Preti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
The demo unfolded during Sundance’s final hurray in Park City, the Utah ski destination where Robert Redford founded the festival in 1981 as a haven for independent films. The march marked the most visible escalation in an atmosphere of political tension at this year’s festival, shaped largely by a growing national backlash against the weeks-long ICE deployment in Minnesota.
“If we want to halt the slide toward authoritarianism in our country, each of us must engage in regular, sustained, and most importantly, peaceful resistance,” one Utah Overpass Action volunteer told the crowd. “We must remain engaged until we come together to end this national nightmare.”
At one point, he asked demonstrators to observe a brief moment of silence “to recognize and remember the countless human beings who have been abused and murdered by ICE over the years.” “Let’s film movies, not people,” protesters chanted, paying homage to the festival screenings and industry events being held just down the street. Other chants included “Abolish ICE,” “Ho, ho, ho, Trump and ICE must go,” and “No hate, no fear, we welcome immigrants here,” and speakers urged attendees to call their senators and push for legislation.
Jess Besconte, a U.S.-based activist who led some of the chants in Park City, said they were filmmakers who came of age in Los Angeles and were “raised by a community of people shaped by immigration.”
“They are going after our neighbors, our storytellers,” Vesconte told Variety to the crowd. “Fascists go after artists because artists let us know that this world is built by people. It’s imaginary, which means we can imagine it differently. We have the power to do things differently, and artists help us imagine that world. Journalists, artists, storytellers, activists. All of us.”
During the festival, several actors and filmmakers wore ICE Out pins on the red carpet and appeared in press to criticize the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Natalie Portman, Olivia Wilde, Will Poulter, Zoey Deutch, and Molly Ringwald all spoke out on Variety.
“I’m appalled and disgusted,” Wilde told Variety at the premiere of “The Invite” on Saturday. “If we can do something here to support the movement to deport ICE, to outlaw this criminal organization, then that’s what we need to do.”
