This Is What Democracy Looks Like (2000)

A filmed account of the street protests against the World Trade Organization Summit in Seattle, Washington, USA in 1999.

Directors:

Jill Friedberg, Rick Rowley

Stars:

Noam Chomsky, Michael Franti, Susan Sarandon

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Noam Chomsky	...	Himself
Michael Franti	...	Narrator (voice)
Susan Sarandon	...	Narrator (voice)
Vandana Shiva	...	Herself

Storyline

This film, shot by 100 amateur camera operators, tells the story of the enormous street protests in Seattle, Washington in November 1999, against the World Trade Organization summit being held there. Vowing to oppose, among other faults, the WTO's power to arbitrally overrule nations' environmental, social and labour policies in favour of unbridled corporate greed, protestors from all around came out in force to make their views known and stop the summit. Against them is a brutal police force and a hostile media as well as the stain of a minority of destructively overzealous comrades. Against all odds, the protesters bravely faced fierce opposition to take back the rightful democratic power that the political and corporate elite of the world is determined to deny the little people.

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Plot Keywords:

seattle washington | trade | world trade organization | police | environmental protest | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Big Noise Films

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Essa é a Cara da Democracia

Filming Locations:

Seattle, Washington, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Big Noise Films, Independent Media Center

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Guerrilla Radio"
Performed by Rage Against the Machine
Written by Zack De La Rocha, Tim Commerford, Tom Morello and Brad Wilk
Courtesy of Sony/ATV Songs LLC/Retribution Music

User Reviews

Remarkable Footage Of "The Battle of Seattle"

For those people who wonder what the 1999 protests of the World Trade Organization was all about, this movie explains the rationale for the protests and a day to day video account of the events. The Independent Media Center has edited over 100 hours of video footage into these 80 minutes and remarkably covers a good deal of ground. It was stunning to see the Seattle police become increasingly aggressive when dealing with the protesters. At the showing I attended, the audience audibly gasped when one police officer pulled a protester's hood off so that he could spray some kind of tear gas-like chemical into her face more easily. If you like documentaries, particularly those by Michael Moore, don't miss this one.