Elijah Wood among protestors in anti-ICE demonstration at Sundance Film Festival
Elijah Wood was among the protestors who gathered for a small anti-ICE demonstration which took place at the Sundance Film Festival.
Around 100 protestors, including Wood, congregated outside 577 Main Street in Park City, Utah to raise their voices against the killings of both Alex Pretti and Renee Good by ICE officials in the state of Minneapolis over the course of recent weeks.
Speaking to Deadline while in the crowd, Lord of the Rings star Wood said he wanted to join the demonstration as “The folks who have been unlawfully gunned down in Minnesota — it’s awful.”
He added: “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.”
Protesters gathered for a short rally where they chanted “Love melts ICE!”, in line with the demonstration name ‘Sundancers melt ICE’, before dispersing after around ten minutes.
Subsequently, Natasha Lyonne shared on Instagram that another short protest is set to take place tonight (January 26th) is set to take place at the festival at 10pm local time.
This year’s Sundance Film Festival has been defined with a markedly political edge given the landscape of ICE killings which are happening in the United States. Many actors, from Wood to Natalie Portman, have used their premieres or opportunities to speak to the press as a way of highlighting their resistance.
Elsewhere, Democratic Florida Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost reported that he had been assaulted in a racially-motivated attack by a man during a party at the festival.
Writing on X over the weekend, Frost shared: “Last night, I was assaulted by a man at Sundance Festival who told me that Trump was going to deport me before he punched me in the face.”
Police have since identified that the suspect is a man named Christian Young, who has now been arrested on charges of “aggravated burglary and two counts of simple assault, with each charge subject to a sentencing enhancement”.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.