PARK CITY, Utah — As filmmakers celebrated independent moviemaking at the Sundance Film Festival, events unfolding nationally cast a pall on the indie showcase’s final installment in Park City.
More than a thousand miles away from the mountain town, ongoing ICE crackdowns in Minneapolis resulted in the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti Saturday morning by federal agents.
“It’s remarkable and disturbing all at the same time,” said director Alex Gibney, at Sundance with “Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie,” to The Times Saturday afternoon. “I mean, what’s great about it is that you have evidence. You have evidence of the truth in terms of this kind of state-sponsored terrorism being meted out on Americans.”
On Jan. 7, Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed in Minneapolis by an ICE officer. Footage of both Pretti’s and Good’s deaths spread widely across social media and news reports, igniting protests.
“These are not normal times,” actor Edward Norton told The Times in an interview Sunday morning. “It’s like we have extrajudicial assaults on Americans and humans going on on a daily basis now. And it’s not OK. Even though all people kind of have to put one foot in front of the other and deal with the demands of the day, we cannot act like this is not happening.”
Norton is one of the stars of “The Invite,” which premiered at Sundance on Saturday night.
“I think what they’re doing in Minnesota with the strike needs to expand,” he continued. “I think we should be talking about a national general economic strike until this is over.”
Around noon Sunday, a small group of anti-ICE protesters briefly walked up Main Street with signs, urging people who were in line to buy Sundance merchandise to get out and join them.
Some filmmakers hoped that the festival would provide escape from a distracting reality.
“I think that there’s a great tradition of storytelling that’s helped humans get through difficult times for many, many centuries,” said director and star Olivia Wilde, here with both a new directorial effort, “The Invite,” and Gregg Araki’s “I Want Your Sex.” “I hope that allowing people to laugh last night felt good. But, you know, we’re very aware that Americans right now are out on the streets marching — and courageously so. It’s devastating.”
Margaret Cho, one of the stars of “Run Amok,” a coming-of-age dramedy that involves gun violence, described the pain that the public is witnessing as “unfathomable.”
“Children are being put into detention and we’re watching it,” Cho told The Times in an interview on Sunday. “We’re watching people being murdered in the street. So I think that what’s important is that we can address that with art. And this film is a perfect example of trying to heal through art.”
Meanwhile some stars visibly supported protesters. Wilde wore an “ICE Out” pin to “The Invite” premiere and a “Be Good” pin (in reference to Renee Good) on Sunday morning. Natalie Portman, in town for the premiere of a new art-world satire, “The Gallerist,” was also seen wearing both pins around Sundance.
“In a tiny way, wearing a pin does nothing but at least we’re able to show support,” Wilde said.
At the premiere of his new film “Zi,” monomonikered director Kogonada acknowledged the events in Minnesota as he introduced the film, the crowd applaudingenthusiastically.
“I’m a believer in what [Roger] Ebert says — that cinema is an empathizing machine — and in the darkest time you hope that art doesn’t feel indulgent, that it deepens our feeling of and sense of humanity,” said Kogonada. “I just feel like, more than ever, it feels important to do that and to counter what’s happening around the world and create empathy, which we really desperately need.”
Staff writer Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.
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