A huge shroud containing the names of 60,000 people killed in Gaza was unfurled tonight (August 8) at the Locarno Film Festival in a peaceful demonstration outside the Piazza Grande.
The protest took place shortly before a sold-out Piazza Grande screening of Olivia Wilde’s The Invite, which is being attended by over 8,000 people.
The protest, which was organised by three Swiss groups, saw a white shroud printed with the names of victims of the war in Gaza being rolled out over several hundred metres and lifted in the air by dozens of attendees.
Organisers said the shroud gives “a name and a visual representation to at least some of the victims of the genocide in Gaza.”
The three organisers of the protest included Swiss Healthcare Workers Against Genocide, a local protest group from the Ticino municiplity, and a citizens group called 24maggio.
In literature distributed at the festival, they called on the Swiss government to pressure Israel to open Gaza’s borders to allow in essential aid and independent media and to bring injured victims to Switzerland for treatment.
One of the organisers told Screen that they had chosen to demonstrate during the Locarno Festival to raise awareness, and that the shroud had been made in the Netherlands and brought to Locarno for the protest.
A Locarno festival spokesman told Screen: ”The festival was informed in advance that a protest was being planned. 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.”
Locarno is the latest in a long line of festivals, including Venice and Berlin, to see protests against the Israel Gaza war.
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