The inauguration of President-Elect Donald Trump is January 20, 2017 — which is also the first full day of the Sundance Film Festival. That’s already inspired multiple festival attendees to discuss how they might arrange marches or protests, and now the festival has gone on the record to say that they will help connect any group who wishes to demonstrate with Park City so they can effectively organize.
“As an arts organization that supports freedom of speech and empowering the individual voice, we always look to create a safe space for artists and will facilitate requests from outside groups that want to host demonstrations at our 2017 Festival by connecting them with the city of Park City, Utah to organize,” a rep for the festival told The Hollywood Reporter.
Additionally, festival director John Cooper said that the lineup’s push for more environmental films was partly in response to the global warming crisis as well as those who continually devalue the issue.
“Over the last couple of years, we saw a lack of environmental films being made, and these are topics affecting us all,” he said. “This is one of Robert Redford’s personal fights. We got a lot of films this year [tackling the issue], and it all worked out. When people are questioning, ‘Is it real?,’ we have plenty of examples that tell the story in complete and complex ways.”
The 2017 Sundance Film Festival runs January 19- 29.
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