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Locarno became the latest film festival to see protests at the continuing situation in Gaza and Palestine’s Occupied Territories.
While music from the Campari Lounge boomed into the evening, approximately 100 demonstrators
unwound a shroud bearing the names of 60,000 people who have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war two and a half years ago.
One of the organizers, Dr. Michele Ghielmini from Swiss Healthcare Workers Against Genocide, told Variety that the protestors were not aligned to any political party and were not attempting to disrupt the festival. The location and time of the protest had been agreed with the festival organizers and the police.
The banner containing the 60,000 names had previously been displayed in Amsterdam and in front of the Swiss Parliament in Bern.
Ghielmini said: “The festival is an opportunity because a lot of people are here, a lot of people from all over the world, but also importantly, a lot of people from Switzerland. Not all people of Switzerland have been sensitive in the same way to these actions of the Swiss government, and in particular, the German part of Switzerland was less sensitive. The Italian and French-speaking parts were more sensitive to it, and because of the film festival, there are more people from the German part of Switzerland here. Also, more press from the German part of Switzerland, and because of that, we thought it would be a good moment again to call attention to what has happened and to what is still happening in Gaza.”
According to literature the protestors distributed, they are calling on the Swiss government to pressure Israel to open the borders of Gaza to relief organizations and the media, as well as to allow for injured civilians of Gaza to receive medical treatment in Switzerland. They also demand that the Swiss government impose sanctions if the Israelis continue to violate the Geneva convention.
The festival has been relatively untouched by the kind of political controversy which dogged the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. There are films in competition from Palestinian filmmakers, such as Mohanad Yaqubi’s feature-length documentary “Revolutionaries Never Die,” in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente (Filmmakers of the Present) competition, and Palestinian-Jordanian director Asmahan Bkerat’s debut feature “Concrete Land” in the Semaine de la Critique section. Israeli producers are participating in some industry events.
“The festival was informed in advance that a protest was being planned,” fest organizers told Variety. “As with any peaceful demonstration, we respect people’s right to free speech and to express their views, provided it takes place safely and without disrupting other attendees.”
Over 8,000 attendees crammed into the Grand Piazza an hour after the protest had peacefully concluded for a sold-out screening of Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite.”
