Grades 10-12, College, Adult
Directed by Rustin Thompson
Produced by Rustin Thompson and Ann Hedreen
DVD Purchase $79, Rent $45
US Release Date: 2000
Copyright Date: 2000
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-403-6
VHS ISBN: 1-56029-881-2
Subjects
American Studies
Anthropology
Business Practices
Citizenship
Ethics
Film Studies
Global Issues
Globalization
History
Human Rights
Humanities
International Studies
International Trade
Mass Communications
Media Literacy
Media Studies
Social Justice
Social Psychology
Sociology
Western US
Awards and Festivals
ALA Video Round Table's 2001 Notable Video for Adults
Chris Award, Columbus International Film Festival
Best Documentary, Portland Festival of World Cinema
Gold Jury Prize, Chicago Underground Film Festival
Best Documentary, Seattle Underground Film Festival
Most Inspirational Short Film, Reel to Real International Film Festival
Taos Talking Picture Festival
Northwest Film & Video Festival
Photojournalist's personal odyssey through the streets of Seattle during the WTO meeting.
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"Remarkable testimony by a reflective witness operating outside the predictable agendas." Chicago Sun-Times |
30 Frames A Second: The WTO in Seattle, is a compelling first-person account of the events that unfolded during the week the World Trade Organization came to Seattle in November of 1999. It's told from the perspective of 15-year veteran network news cameraman Rustin Thompson, who covered the WTO as an independent journalist. It is the story of how Thompson's objective point-of-view evolved into a subjective account of what became an unscheduled, unruly outbreak of democracy.
Thompson, who had press credentials for the event, takes the viewer into the fray of tear gas, pepper spray, and police abuse; behind the lines and inside the convention center and press rooms; and along the marches, sit-ins, and demonstrations. His dynamic, up-close footage captures the passion, the confusion, the anger, and the courage of everyone involved, from protesters to police to delegates to bureaucrats.
With Thompson narrating, the film asks viewers to emotionally engage their own conflicting feelings about the demonstrations and behind-closed-doors meetings. "I was intrigued by taking a singular, personal approach to the events," says Thompson, as he recounts how the protests affected him as a journalist and a common citizen. The result is an impressionistic journal of a decisive week that exploded into a massive expression of freedom: of speech, of assembly, and the press.
Reviews
"This film is essential to anyone trying to come to grips with the events in Seattle and the continuing debate over globalization. Highly recommended."
"(A) highly watchable personal video documentary...the sense of what it was like to be there is pungent throughout."
"Standout documentary, Rus Thompson's 30 Frames a Second is a user-friendly guide to the Seattle anti-WTO demonstrations."
"Both polished and provocative, Thompson...furnish(es) remarkable testimony by a reflective witness operating outside the predictable agendas and usual players seen in the newscasts."
"If I had to review...30 FRAMES...in only three words, I'd say it's honest, energizing agitprop...(W)hat marks (it) as agitprop is Thompson's own political conversion, seemingly brought about by his participation in the events."
"A fine work of memory, delicately crafted and suitably humble...one of the more aesthetically resonant diaries of the protests you're likely to see."
"(Thompson's) first person postcard is one of the most jarring things I've seen in ages...What country, what year is this, you want to ask as your jaw drops."