In the winter of 2003, as the US was building up to attack Iraq, people around the world responded with a series of the largest protests in history.
In San Francisco, the response to the US’s illegal and brutal attack was a mass uprising that forced the police to declare the financial district shut down the day after the war started.
Orchestrated by Direct Action to Stop the War (DASW), 20,000 people clogged the streets of downtown San Francisco with everything from brass bands and bicycles to mourning mothers and large-scale lockdowns, stopping business as usual. But neither the uprising nor DASW outlasted the occupation.
Created by organizers from within DASW, SHUTDOWN goes behind the scenes for a look at some of the difficulties and pitfalls of mass organizing, direct action and building a movement that lasts. 45 mins. Directed by Beca Lafore, Helia Rasti & Jonathan Stribling-Uss
Plus :
First Casualty by Iraq Veterans Against the War: Documents the direct action in Times Square, NYC by IVAW, with vets dressed in gear “detaining” volunteers, throwing them to the ground and taking them away. Interspersed with interviews with vets about their opinions about the war and their experiences on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Interrogation by Nasser Rahmani Nejad: An emotional and chilling portrayal of interrogation as a political prisoner.
The Other Side of the Wall by Nasser Rahmani Nejad: The horrors of war are portrayed in stark contrast to the glory of war through
images of war, The Vietnam War Memorial and Iris Dement lyrics.
With Us or Against Us by Sarina Khan Reddy: An artful investigation into the difference between Freedom Fighters and Terrorists,
depending on US foreign policy needs at the time.
The Great Game: New World Order? by Sarina Khan Reddy: explores colonization embodied in globalization, the current glorification of US war technology, the past glory of the British Empire and the glamorization of the 3rd Reich as expressed in Nazi propaganda film.
