WTO/99

WTO/99 brings four days in late 1999 back to life and provides insights into the world we live in today. The film shows the results of tens of thousands of people occupying the streets of downtown Seattle to vocalize their concerns about the existence of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its impact on the environment, economy, human rights, and labor. Hoping to dissuade world leadership from continued support of the WTO, the protesters were met with extreme violence by a militarized police force. The protests strived to focus the public’s attention on the kind of future the WTO would bring forth—the future we live in today. Created from more than 400 hours of never-before-seen footage, WTO/99 is an immersive visual artifact that reanimates a week that still reverberates over two decades later. (102 mins., DCP)

WTO/99 premiered at the 2025 True/False Film Festival and has gone on to play at numerous prominent festivals around the country, where the film has won two jury prizes.

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IMAGE CAPTION
WTO/99, courtesy of Rustin Thompson.