Educational Media Reviews Online

In 1968, television news cameras recorded scenes of searing conflict between anti-war demonstrators and police at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The confrontations became etched into our memories. Twenty-one years later, in Seattle, it seemed to be “deja vu all over again,” as protesters and police clashed during demonstrations against the policies of the World Trade Organization, which was meeting in the Washington city. Once again, the events were recorded by photojournalists, and one of them, Rustin Thompson, has edited the footage he taped into a 75-minute impressionistic documentary called 30 Frames a Second: The WTO in Seattle.

Thompson was a cameraman, producer, and editor for network television news for 19 years. He won Emmys for his work, but became disillusioned, saying in 30 Frames A Second that he felt “like an overpaid electronic stenographer.” Thompson, a resident of Seattle, covered the WTO meeting as an independent journalist, not certain what he would shoot or how he would use his footage. He says in his documentary that he had not even heard of the WTO until he found out the organization would be meeting in his hometown.

The ensuing demonstrations and police handling (or mishandling) of protesters shocked him out of any indecision about what to do with his footage. Most of 30 Frames a Second is given over to the events that occurred outside the convention hall. Scenes of demonstrators marching, chanting, and singing are intercut with tear gas bombs exploding and the protesters being roughly handled by police. Thompson himself had a confrontation with the cops. An officer told him to move back to another street corner. When Thompson did not move immediately, the policeman “escorted” the cameraman back to the desired spot, with Thompson walking backward as he continued to tape. The policeman left him with the parting shot, “Thank you very much, you idiot.”

This is not a carefully balanced documentary, with both sides getting equal time. As Thompson says in the film, “What I experienced that week, just like I think a lot of people experienced, was so eye-opening that I found it difficult to remain objective.” He includes a clip from Jean-Luc Godard’s film Le Petit Soldat, in which a character says, “Film is truth 24 times a second.” The corollary, adapted for the running speed of videotape, would be, “Video is truth 30 frames a second.” But Thompson recognizes the “truth” his video camera records is a subjective one. Other “truths,” which may favor the WTO point of view more, or at least not paint the demonstrators as favorably, are left for others to record.

30 Frames a Second is recommended, but as a raw, on-the-spot record of the WTO demonstrations, not as a primer on the opposing sides in the controversy. We learn little about the WTO and its views, other than that it consists of trade experts from 135 countries who favor reduction of tariffs and revision or elimination of laws and regulations it sees as impeding free trade. We hear only briefly from those attending the conference, and the protesters’ arguments are never really countered in the film. The viewpoint of the police and any justifications for their actions are also not heard.

The video could be useful in classrooms discussing protest movements and how effective demonstrations are in getting people to recognize a different viewpoint and perhaps change their minds. Thompson’s wife worked for a non-profit media relations company hired by several anti-WTO environmental organizations. Thompson mentions in the film that his wife felt her company’s hard work in persuading people to see the environmentalists’ viewpoint was undercut by the violence at the demonstrations. He disagreed, saying the demonstrations more effectively raised awareness of the anti-WTO platform.

This production could be used as a springboard for discussions in both college and advanced high school classes. It should be noted, however, that there are scattered instances of profanity in the video, as well as one scene featuring topless women protesters who wrote protest slogans over their bodies.