Sundance raises the cry of pain of America torn apart by Trump

PARK CITY, Utah. Since Redford turned a modest Utah ski resort into the most influential filmmaking launch pad for the independent industry, the nature of the festival has swung like a pendulum of truth pointing the long snowy wing of art to platforms and stages filmmakers could count on. Two years ago, pro-Palestinian demonstrations blocked Main Street; in 2018, a women's march brought Jane Fonda, Tessa Thompson, Common and Gloria Allred to speak to audiences under a blanket of snow for a full hour. The festival's DNA carries Redford's progressive values - a commitment to democratic ideals, giving a voice to the marginalised, using art as a tool for social change. This year, violence is even closer to home. Americans watch their fellow citizens die at the hands of federal agents in real time, footage inevitably pierces the screen, every feed, every news site is toxic air, yet as essential as a scalpel or fentanyl.

"We are all here celebrating something exciting and hopeful that is cinema," Olivia Wilde commented on the red carpets of The Invite and I Want Your Sex. "But the world is suffering right now, this country is suffering. It's scary." Wilde is one of the celebrities to wear an 'ICE Out' pin at its premiere and a 'Be Good' badge, a reference to Renee Nicole Good, the American killed in Minneapolis by the feds. "I am shocked and disgusted," Wilde continued. "We cannot go another day accepting this as our new normal. It is outrageous. People are being murdered. If we can do something out here to support the movement and wipe out ICE, to delegitimise this incredibly criminal organisation, then I'm proud to be at Sundance with my colleagues."

For documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney, at Sundance with Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie, the proliferation of video evidence has created a paradox of modern American life. "It's extraordinary and disturbing at the same time," Gibney let the Los Angeles Times know. "The good thing is that we have the evidence. It is clear that this is a type of state-sponsored terrorism perpetrated on Americans." The Minneapolis video Gibney referred to is the one everyone knows by now: a scuffle between Border Patrol agents and Pretti shortly before the shooting. The Department of Homeland Security claimed that the officers fired in self-defence after Pretti, according to them armed with a gun, resisted attempts to disarm him. But eyewitnesses, local officials and Pretti's family disputed that version, noting that he was holding a phone, not a weapon. BBC analysis of available video footage found no sign of a gun in Pretti's hand.

"These are not normal times," said Edward Norton, one of the stars of The Invite. "It is as if we are helplessly witnessing extrajudicial assaults on Americans and human beings. We cannot act as if this is not happening. We must demand direct action. A general economic strike could be an answer, at least until this chaos is over."

Natalie Portman, in Park City for the premiere of The Gallerist, a satire of the art world, is also wearing 'ICE out' and 'Be Good' pins and sporting them throughout the festival. Her assessment is clear: 'What is happening in this country, in these days, is horrible. What the federal government, Trump's government, Kristi Noem, ICE are doing is really the worst of the worst of humanity. On the other side, we have the best of humanity instead. We are witnessing an awakening of conscience. Wearing a pin, perhaps, doesn't change anything, but at least we are able to show support and be there for each other. Even when Sundance is over, we will fight.