Professional-Palestine protestors returned to the streets of Park Metropolis on the Sundance Movie Pageant on Saturday, January 25 to once more name out “media complicity in genocide.”
Between 30 to 50 demonstrators took to a snowy Essential Road shortly after 1 p.m. MT and chanted phrases like “No peace on stolen land,” “Occupation no extra,” and “Israel is a terrorist state,” whereas additionally calling out journalists and filmmakers attending the pageant.
“Journalists and filmmakers don’t communicate the reality as a result of they’ve misplaced their ethical compass,” one speaker mentioned to the group. The audio system repeatedly slammed the media and reporters for what they believed was a failure to report on warfare crimes, and that the liberal mainstream media was chargeable for sowing division.
The protest comes amid the primary part of a ceasefire within the Gaza Struggle between Israel and Hamas, by which preventing has halted since final Saturday and Hamas has been regularly releasing Israelis taken hostage throughout the assaults on October 7, 2023. Israel in change is releasing Palestinian detainees.
The protest, which was billed as a peaceable demonstration, was organized by the Well being Care Staff for Palestine, a Salt Lake Metropolis-based group that was among the many organizers for final 12 months’s occasion that attracted between 100-200 demonstrators, in addition to movie star contributors akin to Melissa Barrera and Indya Moore. Additionally taking part within the protest are the teams Arabs in Utah, Salt Lake Artists In opposition to Genocide, and Armed Queers, which in 2024 supplied safety for the demonstrators.
The organizers took to Essential Road in Park Metropolis, settling simply in entrance of Sundance’s Filmmakers Lodge. Reps for the group say it’s not a protest towards the Sundance Movie Pageant particularly however is focused on the movie trade, urging it to discover “the total humanity of Palestinian life, quite than counting on cartoony characters and cliché plot traces.”
“There continues to be a noticeable lack of Palestinian voices in media and leisure usually, together with movies and TV exhibits,” says Mishandi Sarhan, one of many audio system on the protest and a member of Salt Lake Artists In opposition to Genocide. “The present absence or bias in illustration contributes to the warping of public opinion and is unacceptable. We’re demanding a fuller and extra balanced method to portrayal of the Palestinian expertise.”
The professional-Palestinian demonstrators had been met by a handful of counter protestors who held an Israeli flag and American flag, whereas a number of law enforcement officials on horses had been additionally positioned in the course of the road. With Sundance closing Essential Road to car visitors, the demonstrators gathered in a circle in the course of the road quite than alongside the sidewalk as was the case in 2024.
Final 12 months, protestors carried indicators and banners that mentioned “Let Gaza Reside,” “Ceasefire Now,” and “Deplatform Zionism.” The protestors additionally gave an inventory of calls for to now-former president Joe Biden and labeled him “Genocide Joe.” One of many audio system reminded the group that they mentioned final January that “Come November we are going to keep in mind,” they usually did, selecting to vote with their conscience.
As IndieWire reported on the time, the occasion happened concurrently a panel dialogue about Israeli illustration within the media. Neither the protest nor the panel had been affiliated with Sundance.
“The protection and safety of our pageant goers is all the time our chief concern,” a pageant rep in a press release to IndieWire mentioned. “This peaceable protest shouldn’t be being placed on by the Sundance Institute or the Pageant, and as with all occasions that aren’t affiliated with our Pageant, we’re in fixed contact with native and state legislation enforcement, who’re dedicated to upholding an setting that’s welcoming and safe for all our attendees. Our Security and Belonging workforce stays devoted to fostering an setting minimize from the Sundance material inside Pageant theaters and venues — a secure, inclusive, and welcoming house for respectful dialogue, a passionate change of concepts, and an inclusive celebration of our shared humanity.”
