PARK CITY, Utah — The news began to hit the Sundance Film Festival as people were stepping out of dark movie theaters onto snowy sidewalks or waking up after a long night of partying in the bars and lounges on Main Street.
“If you all have not heard what’s going on in Minnesota this morning, someone else was murdered by ICE,” director Ava DuVernay said, referring to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti as she began to ask a question while seated in the audience at a panel on freedom of expression Saturday afternoon.
About two hours later, Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., identified himself on X as the person who was “punched in the face” at a party hosted by the talent agency CAA on Friday by a man who allegedly told him President Donald Trump was going to deport him.
The political temperature during the early days of the 2026 festival was wide-ranging. While some filmmakers and stars wore “Be Good” and “ICE Out” pins, many of the film premieres and brand-sponsored lounges remained largely apolitical zones.
But by Saturday afternoon, as attendees hopped around Park City, many were also watching videos of the killing of Pretti, a Minnesota nurse, on their cellphones, and a sense of cognitive dissonance began to permeate the festival.
“It’s hard to be somewhere like this … wear nice outfits and talk about film, when something so ugly is happening right next to us,” actor Jenna Ortega told reporters ahead of the premiere of her new movie, “The Gallerist,” on Saturday.
“I’m sitting here talking about movies while an illegal army is being mounted against U.S. citizens,” Edward Norton, who co-stars in “The Invite,” told The Hollywood Reporter.
During Trump’s first term, much of Hollywood was vocally critical of the president, but this time, the entertainment industry’s response has been more muted, with some — including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence — saying they felt their prior activism made little impact.
There is a history of political activists taking advantage of the spotlight that Sundance can help them shine on an issue: During the 2024 festival, the group Arabs in Utah shut down Main Street to draw attention to the conflict in Gaza. In 2017, 8,000 people showed up to a women’s march led by comedian Chelsea Handler and sponsored by groups including Planned Parenthood and EMILY’S List to protest Trump’s first inauguration.
This year, the streets were not as populated by protesters. A small crowd of people in Park City took to Main Street on Sunday — where many of the festival activations take place — holding anti-ICE signs. Later in the evening, roughly 100 people gathered on Main Street again for a 10-minute “Sundancers Melt Ice” rally, this time turning on the lights in their phones as part of another solidarity rally against ICE. “Lord of the Rings” star Elijah Wood was among the attendees, according to Deadline. (NBC News has reached out to Wood’s representative for comment).
The conversations around politics were largely unfolding at panels, such as the American Civil Liberties Union event attended by DuVernay, and as the stars were promoting their films on red carpets ahead of their premieres.
”I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge everything that is happening in Minnesota,” filmmaker Kogonada told the audience at the screening of his film, “Zi.” “I’m a believer in what [Roger] Ebert says that cinema is an empathizing machine. In the darkest time, you hope that art doesn’t feel indulgent but that it deepens our sense of humanity. I feel like more than ever it is important to do that to counter what is happening around the world.”
On Friday, actor Kerry Washington spoke at a panel titled “Democracy On the Screen — And On The Line,” hosted by Elevate Studios and the Impact Lounge. That same day, the think tank African American Policy Forum hosted a panel titled “The Story of Us — The New McCarthyism: Why Authoritarians Fear Storytellers,” which included perspectives from DuVernay, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen and Tony-winning actor Kara Young.
“ICE OUT” pins were spotted across Park City over the weekend, worn by stars such as Natalie Portman, Olivia Wilde and Zoey Deutch.
“It’s really impossible not to talk about what is happening right now and the brutality of ICE and how it has to stop immediately,” Portman, Ortega’s co-star in “The Gallerist,” told Variety on Saturday. “But also, there’s a beautiful community that Americans are showing right now. They’re showing up for each other, protecting each other and fighting for their freedom. It’s a bittersweet moment to celebrate something we’re so proud of on the backdrop of our nation in pain.”
Wilde, whose “The Invite” film premiered to a standing ovation Saturday, said that while she and others were at the festival, people should also be paying attention to what’s happening in the United States.
“We can’t go another day just sort of accepting this as our new norm,” she told Variety. “It’s outrageous. People are being murdered. And, I don’t want to normalize seeing people being murdered on the internet … It’s hideous. And so if we can do anything out here to support the movement to cast ICE out, to delegitimize this unbelievably criminal organization, then that’s what we should be doing.”
