Thursday January 01 1970
Film Screening: Battle in Seattle
cork |
arts and media |
event notice 
Tuesday June 22, 2010 23:55
by Eric - WSM
solidaritybooks at gmail dot com
Solidarity Books, 43 Douglas Street, Opposite Fionn Barras, Cork City
It is November 1999, and five days are about to rock the world as tens of thousands of demonstrators take to the streets of Seattle in protest of the World Trade Organizations Ministerial Meeting. Among them are Django (Andre Benjamin), Sam (Jennifer Carpenter), Lou (Michelle Rodriguez) and Jay (Martin Henderson). Each has a unique story, but they’re united in a common desire to be heard and to make a difference in the world. For these four protesters, this is very personal and the stakes are higher than mere politics.
A peaceful demonstration to stop the WTO talks quickly escalates into a full-scale riot, and soon a State of Emergency is declared by the Mayor of Seattle. The streets are mayhem, and the WTO is paralyzed. Caught in the crossfire of civil liberties and keeping the peace are Seattle residents, including its beleaguered mayor (Ray Liotta), a riot cop on the streets (Woody Harrelson) and his pregnant wife (Charlize Theron). The choices they all make will change their lives forever.
Writer/Director Stuart Townsend brings together this talented ensemble to intertwine different points of view from protesters and police to delegates and doctors — each of whom intentionally or accidentally find themselves on the streets of Seattle in those last days of the millennium. Townsend seamlessly merges footage of the real event with his fictional narrative. Ultimately, Battle in Seattle illustrates that even against incredible odds, ordinary people can change the world.
runtime: 99mins
Comments (3 of 3)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3Related blog post with links to more films, essays etc about this event and where its lead...
“The day the political landscape changed forever“, was how Fritjof Capra referred to events of N30, Tuesday 30th of November 1999, in his book The Hidden Connections. He was referring to the day when 1000´s of global justice activists came together and succeeded in shutting down the first WTO talks in the US using (mostly) non violent direct actions (NVDA) in the north western US city of Seattle. This was the event which brought the “globalisation” debate to the mainstream. It has been misleadingly described as anti-globalisation, what it should be accurately described as is anti corporate globalisation.
http://itsafunnyoldworld.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/n30/
I loved reading Frtzov Caprov's book "The Tao Of Physics" in 1976.
He drew parallels between modern physics and ancient mysticism.
Good entertaining book
I didn't believe a word of it.
Good fun read though.
Amazon still sell it:
http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Physics-3rd-Updated/dp/0877735948
Keep your "Mark Twain's Patented Bullshit Detector" in working order though!
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Think I missed that one.Hit the dancing wu li masters.Yes, the nuclear colloidoscope seems to have Big Banged us back into meta-physics, quantum speed. Whats anti-matter if not the nebulous speculation of tenuous strings of metaphorical numerological abstractions?Mr Clemens had a better scope than Galileo.As did the good Dean with his sunbeam extractor.For forensics I fall back on Ambrose Bierce's cyclotronic semantic splitter.Does what it says for the sides.For Grand Unified Theories I find the I Ching, given its antiquity, a polished lens. Our laboratory is flat out trying to explain to CERN that all that anti-gravity they are probing for is called the Force of Levity down in Kilkenny. But then they juggle apples and sliotars in those electron shells.Speaking of Shell companies.Are Pat O'Donnell and Niall Hartnett still cellular?I believe they are.
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