Try as he might, Jim Gaffigan could not shut down the heckles of pro-Palestinian activists just outside the massive tent in Santa Monica containing the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Chants of “Free Palestine,” “Long live Palestine,” and “Cease fire now” could be heard outside the ceremony this afternoon as the show went on. While the protestor’s megaphone chants could not be clearly heard on Film Independent’s YouTube stream, presenters and winners tried their best to ignore the calls for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza that has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of which are women and children.
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The Hollywood Reporter’s Chris Gardner captured video from outside the tent. There did not appear to be many protestors, but that megaphone remained undeterred.
The chants began during Jim Gaffigan’s presentation of Jury Duty’s “Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series.” Though the comedian has about 35 years of experience on stage, he, like the rest of the winners and presenters, did their best to shut out the protests. James Marsden noted the risks Judy Duty took, and Ali Wong thanked her caterers as muffled yells of “free Palestine” could be heard. The following segment was even worse.
“We are at the beach, and people are expressing their freedom of speech, but that’s not going to stop our beach party,” host Aidy Bryant said as she began handing out sunscreen, flip flops, and hot dogs, as shirtless hunks tossed beach boys into the crowd. “We’re really doing it. We’re having forced fun.”
It was an unfortunate pairing of sound and image as everyone brought the “essence of independent film to the small screen,” as Adam Brody put it. As of this writing, none of the presenters showed support for Israel, Palestine, or even peace in the region. It’s a third rail that even the pioneering artists harnessing the independent spirit of the arts wanted to touch.
Well, almost no one. Silicon Valley’s Jimmy O. Yang said that the protestors don’t know that they’re dealing with indie filmmakers who are very used to having someone yell in their ears while they’re trying to work.
Taking a more sincere approach to the disruption was Fremont director Babak Ja, who, while accepting the John Cassavetes award for the film, acknowledged being “inspired” by the protestors.
“I don’t know what they’re saying, but whatever they’re saying is probably a lot more important than what I’m about to say,” said Fremont director Babak Jalali to applause. “I’m so inspired by what they are saying outside that I can’t think about what to say.”
Update: This post has been updated to more accurately reflect Jalai’s words.