One of the more fascinating elements of the documentary WTO/99, directed by Ian Bell, is that while it visually suggests a relic, the political observations feel as predictive as they are reflexive. The film compiles a clear chronology of the events that took place throughout the Seattle WTO protests outside of the WTO Ministerial Conference on November 30th, 1999. What began as a peaceful demonstration primarily concerning labor and environmental issues devolved rather quickly into chaos on the first day, with law enforcement unleashing tear gas and rubber bullets on thousands of citizens. And while property damage is documented in video clips, Bell paints a fairly distinct picture of a large majority of non-violent demonstrators injured thanks to escalation by police.
A combination of news footage and boots-on-the-ground consumer-video recordings form the narrative here, and the 4:3 aspect ratio and grainy digital images are oddly comforting. The year 1999 was so long ago, and so much has happened since then. Approximately 40,000 people gathered in the streets, and by the second day, any policy of non-aggression by the police was gone. Seattle Mayor Paul Schell had announced curfews for downtown areas, asked for the help of the National Guard, and declared “No Protest Zones” in certain sections of the city. Things would, unsurprisingly, get worse. There are particularly striking scenes of law enforcement following the protestors into Capitol Hill, outside of the designated zones, and wreaking havoc on an entire neighborhood deep into the night.
There are clips of activist Ralph Nader, politician Bernie Sanders, and filmmaker Michael Moore speaking against the World Trade Organization, as well as President Bill Clinton trying to rationalize all of it. These are perhaps the weakest moments in the film—they serve to underline the larger motivations for the demonstrations. Most of this we already know from the archival footage. Still, there is a fairly deliciously ridiculous soundbite from then-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz playing up his “corporate conscience” and general confusion over the protests themselves.
We watch footage of protestors locked in buses and thrown in jail without the opportunity for a phone call and without being charged, an ominous reflection of today’s constitutional crisis in America. Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper speaks of his cops preparing for violence before there was any violence, a stark reminder of what escalation looks like. The final minutes of WTO/99 are well-framed and quite arresting, utilizing text and music to launch us back into this precarious present in which we live.
Halfway through the picture, there is a particularly interesting moment in which a news reporter speaks to Tom Hayden, the civil rights activist and one of the leaders of the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Hayden talks about “perception management” and those in power’s overall intention to paint any and all acts of organization against them as unsuccessful. If WTO/99 tells us anything, it’s that this perception management worked and worked well.
WTO/99 begins a one-week theatrical run at NYC’s DCTV on Friday, December 5.