This archival footage documentary covers the three-day effort protesting free trade and the World Trade Conference in Seattle
On the second day of the True/False Film Fest, a film that wrapped up production the week before and whose director had never seen the final cut made for a special, intimate world premiere of “WTO/99.”
On the morning of Nov. 30, 1999, tens of thousands of protestors gathered to stand against the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Seattle, Washington.
Before the events unfolded, protestors purchased preparative gas masks, performed mock non-violent conflicts with police and jokingly wagered whether or not law enforcement would use tear gas.
On the streets surrounding the Seattle Convention Center — where global delegates were set to meet — protestors chained themselves together, blocked traffic from interstates and major intersections and marched to successfully delay the meeting. The effort was impressively organized and deliberately peaceful.
Five years after the United States joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Nov. 3 meeting was set to discuss trade and tariff negotiations. Nicknamed “N30” or the “Battle of Seattle,” protests were geared towards stopping economic globalization and free trade. Frustrations arose when Americans began to lose jobs due to factories and labor being sourced overseas.
Despite the peaceful demonstrations, law enforcement used excessive force to clear the streets. The Seattle Police Department ripped off gas masks to pepper spray protestors in the face, utilized rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades and jutted batons into the ribs of unarmed attendees.
This conflict at the turn of the century is one of beautiful solidarity and disgusting abuses of power concerning issues that are not resolved today.
I went to Seattle in November 2023 and walked the streets of the downtown area — I grabbed coffee at Victrola Coffee Roasters, a four-minute walk from the convention center, with no prior knowledge of this story at the time.
For many interview subjects in the film, their closest point of reference to police violence were demonstrations from the 1960s Civil Rights Movement or the beating of Rodney King in March 1991 — to younger audience members, it’s the George Floyd protests. The film’s references remind us of the long history of police violence in the U.S.
Film quality aside, this project is a fantastic feat. In the Q&A after the film, director Ian Bell described himself and his crew obsessively sorting through hours of footage attempting to find “sync points” — which paid off immensely. One of my favorite sequences was of a citizen recording of a police officer, who was also holding a camcorder. The audience in Rhynsburger Theatre gasped as the film cut to the officer’s point of view. Switching back and forth, the protester waves to the camera in a playful, yet foreshadowing standoff.
Seamless perspective changes like this showed the immense effort this film took to create. Bell also said that at the end of the production process, he could pinpoint when each clip took place across the WTO protest’s three-day effort, give or take five minutes.
In scenes where police violence was front and center, I felt physically ill. I was reminded of my viewing experience of Alex Garland’s “Civil War” — experiencing genuine fear due to the immersive qualities of the sound and cinematography. Even more evocative, no sound effects were used in “WTO/99” to enhance the film.
In one archival video, police rhythmically clacked their batons against their uniforms as they marched. One person behind me whispered that it reminded them of authoritarian regimes.
Not only is the amount of footage impressive, but the purposeful juxtaposition is as well. In one sequence, former Seattle Mayor Paul Schell’s voiceover assures citizens of Seattle that “the city is safe,” shortly after issuing a state of emergency and banning the possession of gas masks in the city.
The film is wrapped up stunningly with a statement from a protest attendee that summarizes the film’s message perfectly: no one person was the organizer of the protests, but rather, it was the result of collective frustration toward conglomerates like Nike, Microsoft and Apple which continually bleed Americans dry for CEOs’ benefit.
I have never seen such nonpartisanship support for a singular cause; from all political backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses and people around the world, all gathered in unity. According to the film, around 70,000 people attended the final demonstration on Dec. 3.
Jello Biafra of the punk band “Dead Kennedys” said it best in a clip shown in the film: “it is not left vs. right, it’s top vs. bottom.” According to Visual Capitalist, an online marketing, economy and tech publisher, the top 1% held 30.8% of total U.S. net worth in 2024, compared to 27.5% in 1999. In a politically tense landscape where many argue that the U.S. is heading toward a techno-authoritative state with the alliance of Meta and the Trump administration, questions emerge.
How have we allowed the issues of globalization, rising fascism and the wealth gap to increase so substantially in the last 25 years? And how have we grown more divided than before?
The audience discussed these questions in the Q&A, leaving these contemplations at the forefront of our thoughts well after we left the theater. It felt very unsettling to return home from the film to finish my macroeconomics homework about the stock market.
To close out the film, the credits played to Andrea True’s “More, more, more” — a genius pick.
“More, more, more / How do you like it? / How do you like it?”
The chorus of this song, which is about sex and love, illuminates a parallel that reminds us of corporate greed. After viewing “WTO/99” the audience is confronted with the fact that today’s political landscape is no different — if not more dire. I think of the quote from Bill Gates in an interview with Stephen Colbert, “If you get rid of 99% [of my wealth], I’d have $1.3 billion.”
While True/False audiences view small-budget films this weekend, billionaires will continue to exploit their workers and enjoy their tremendous wealth.
You can keep up with The Maneater’s 2025 True/False Film Fest coverage here.
Edited by Ainsley Bryson | abryson@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com
Edited by Emilia Hansen | ehansen@themaneater.com
Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com