Director Ian Bell on 'WTO/99' Documentary and Anti-Globalization Movement

The 'WTO/99' Documentary

• 🎥 The documentary "WTO/99" is an immersive archival film that revisits the 1999 protests in Seattle against the World Trade Organization.
• 💡 It utilizes over 1,000 hours of footage from the Independent Media Center (IMC) and other archives to depict the protests and the militarized police response.
• 🎯 The film aims to show the events as they unfolded on the ground, contrasting citizen perspectives with mainstream media coverage.

The 1999 Seattle Protests

• ✊ The 1999 protests involved over 40,000 people using nonviolent direct action to shut down the World Trade Organization meeting.
• 🚨 Protesters were met with a significant police crackdown, including tear gas and rubber bullets, highlighting the conflict between demonstrators and authorities.
• 🗣️ Senator Bernie Sanders is featured discussing concerns about the WTO's impact on national sovereignty and its operation by secret, foreign bureaucracies.

Citizen Journalism and IMC

• 🌐 The Independent Media Center (IMC) played a crucial role in documenting the protests, marking a significant moment for citizen journalism on a mass scale.
• 📸 The availability of small digital cameras and the IMC's efforts allowed for the preservation of extensive footage, offering an unfiltered view of the events.
• 📺 This archival material provides a powerful comparison to how local and national media covered the protests, often failing to explain the protesters' motivations.

Impact and Legacy of the Protests

• 💥 Ralph Nader highlights that the Seattle protests punctured the myth of free trade, exposing it as corporate-managed trade that subordinates labor, consumer, and environmental standards.
• 📉 The protests influenced subsequent movements and congressional debates, contributing to a shift in how trade agreements were perceived and debated.
• 🏢 The film also touches on the targeting of corporations like Starbucks, with CEO Howard Schultz questioning why his stores were singled out.

Enduring Relevance of the Issues

• ⏳ Director Ian Bell notes that the core issues raised by the 1999 protests—related to corporate power and economic globalization—have not disappeared.
• 📣 Many of the concerns that galvanized youth and reform movements 26 years ago are still relevant today, urging for greater attention from power structures.