Several hundred protesters lined the sidewalk amid a crush of Sundance attendees on the busy block.
Traffic on Main Street in Park City came to a complete halt on a busy Sunday afternoon during the Sundance Fest as several hundred Palestinian protesters — among them actors Melissa Barrera and Indya Moore — packed the sidewalk to chant “free Palestine” and “stop the genocide.”
Calls for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas War and protests surrounding the conflict have seen participation from those in the entertainment industry since the outset of the conflict.
Moore, in town for the festival premiere of Ponyboi, took the microphone at one point to say, “I’m gay as — God forgive me — fuck. I love everybody. I love people. I have Israeli friends. I have Jewish friends. I have Palestinian friends. Everybody sees what’s happening. They all agree, there needs to be a ceasefire. Stop telling us to hate each other. Stop telling us they hate each other. They also know that the Palestinian children that have been murdered are not responsible for freeing the hostages right now. That’s just the truth, right? The children are innocent.”
As Barrera looked on, Moore continued by saying, “If you care about life, if you care about dignity, if you care about freedom, you care about the self-determination of everybody.” Though members of the LGBTQ community often face violence, persecution and death in Palestine, Moore offered a counter by saying, “This is about life. That’s why I’m here. I’m trans, right? It’s about love.” She then said, “Free Palestine is about equality for everybody.”
With snow flurries and temperatures in the mid-30s, the scene unfolded directly in front of Park City mainstay Main Street Pizza & Noodle, as the group of protesters crashed up against festival attendees trying to make their way up and down the busy block for screenings, panels, lunches and events. At one point, Chrissy Teigen was seen walking toward the protest trailed by an entourage.
“We are not protesting Sundance, we are protesting the complacency of the mainstream media,” exclaimed one of the lead female protesters, who did not give a name. “All of you here who are filmmakers and artists, who use your art to tell stories, why are you being silent?” There were chants of “ceasefire now” and calls for President Joe Biden to end the U.S. support of the conflict, with demonstrators chanting, “This November we’ll remember.” Signs read “Let Gaza live” and “de-platform Zionism” and were decorated with watermelon, which has become a symbol of solidarity with Palestine.
One of the Sunday events on Main Street was a brunch hosted by top Hollywood talent agency UTA. There, an anonymous industry insider said it was “incredibly inappropriate” for such a protest to be happening amid the festival. “There are a lot of Jewish people at this festival and a lot of them are not happy about these protests going on around the world,” said the source, who hails from New York where they said they’ve spoken to many such protesters, many of whom they believe are misinformed. “They don’t have sufficient information in the first place and they need to be more educated about the history and the events.”
During the protest, one man confronted a Palestinian protester over the use of the chant, asking the woman, who was one of the organizers of today’s event, if she was aware of the connection. The protester refused to engage but when The Hollywood Reporter approached the man to inquire about the passionate exchange, he opened up. Michael Sapers said he lives in Park City during the winters and he came to Main Street because he heard the protest was happening. As a Jewish man, he felt inspired to represent a counterargument.
“It boggles my mind that people don’t really understand what’s going on. I see there are a group of gays here who are supporting Palestinians but in Palestine, the West Bank and Gaza, you can’t be openly gay. They will get beheaded,” Sapers said. “Israel is probably one of the most accepting places in the world for homosexuals. Yet here they are shouting, ‘From the river to the sea,’ which means the extermination of Jews, right? They want to move the Jews out to the sea to get rid of them.”
He continued that Israel has “made strides” in improving its relations with neighboring countries “yet they get attacked on Oct. 7 and 1,200 people were killed including women and babies. Women were raped. It’s horrible. What was Israel supposed to do? They’ve got to fight back. I know it’s terrible and awful that Palestinian women, children and innocent non-Hamas people have been victims in all of this,” Sapers continued. “But it’s a shame. I wish I could educate people, but I first asked questions, but nobody here would answer questions. It’s a shame. I feel sad for them because I don’t think that they come from a of understanding. I don’t think they do their homework. I don’t think they do the research.”
