On February 15, 2003, an estimated up to 30 million people, many of whom had never demonstrated before, turned out in nearly 800 cities worldwide to protest against the impending Iraq War. While the numbers are impressive, they seemingly were to no avail. The Stop The War coalition, as we well know, didn’t stop the war. In fact, about a month after that massive protest, on March 20 to be exact, the Iraq War began, with military operations formerly announced by President George W. Bush.
Protester disappointment was profound but the massive demonstration was not a failure, as chronicled in We Are Many, a documentary directed by Amir Amirani. For example, We Are Many shows the ripple effect the global demonstration had in Egypt, inspiring a massive movement for democracy which ultimately led to the Arab Spring years later.
We Are Many features insights and recollections from direct participants in the protest, among assorted others. The documentary entailed filming in seven countries: Italy Spain, Egypt, Sweden, Australia, the U.K. and U.S. Amirani describes the protest as an affirmation of people power, yielding many positive developments. Giving further credence to that protest of nearly 16 years ago, he said, has been hindsight as the Iraq War is now generally regarded as having done far more harm than good, adding to the instability of the Middle East and giving rise to further global terrorism.
We Are Many marks Amirani’s theatrical feature debut. Over the past 15 years, he has been immersed in documentary fare for British television, including such series as Arena (for which he directed the installment And The Winner Is, a look into the strange world of awards ranging from the Oscars to the Nobel Peace Prize), Timewatch (for which he helmed Concorde–A Love Story, examining the life and death of the famed high-speed plane; the documentary appeared under the title Supersonic Dream as part of the PBS series Nova), and Picture This (for which he directed Hallelujah Hendrix, centered on Jimi Hendrix’s house in London). Amirani’s short for BBC’s News Night which chronicled chemical warfare and its impact on people in a small village during the Iraq-Iran War earned an Amnesty International Award nomination. And his BBC documentary Bands Apart, which covered music under Apartheid in South Africa, garnered a nomination for a One World Broadcasting Trust Award.
Amirani has also produced and presented programs for BBC Radio 4, including In Business, From Our Own Correspondent and documentaries on Iranian comedy and poetry. As a journalist, he has written for The Guardian, New Statesman, New Scientist, Business Traveler Asia and the Economist Intelligence Unit.
SHOOT connected with Amirani in Los Angeles where he discussed the impetus for his involvement in We Are Many, lessons learned from the protest, and avenues of exposure for the documentary.
SHOOT: Provide some backstory on We Are Many. I understand you were in Berlin on February 15, 2003 and witnessed the protest there.
Amirani: I was at the Berlin Film Festival and vaguely aware of this thing that was going to happen. Towards the end of the festival, talk of the demonstration became more prominent. The festival ended on the 14th. I knew lots of friends in London who were going to the protest there. I asked myself if I should go back to London or stay in Berlin. I decided to stay in Berlin. It was freezing cold but the demonstration was exhilarating. As I look back, I realize that was my very first demonstration. I thought nothing of that fact at the time. When I returned to London, I had a friend who told me I missed an amazing day. I countered that it was a pretty big day in Berlin. But then he told me that 2 million people turned out in London. Part of me felt upset that I missed something that big. Yet in the big picture, I thought if it was that big in London and Berlin, where else was this taking place and how big was it in those cities? Even then, the full impact didn’t hit me. But this stayed with me and in 2006 it was an itch I just finally had to scratch. This kind of demonstration worldwide doesn’t just happen. It portends something and I was determined to find out more. How did it come about? What did it mean? People didn’t give it as much thought as it deserved because the prevailing opinion was that the protest failed, that it was an historic failure if you like.
I went into the documentary thinking that the demonstration didn’t stop the war but it was a good story to tell. The demonstrators understandably had a sense of disappointment and disillusionment. People had held onto this wonderful notion, this democratic idea that when people demonstrate on such a scale, it should have some impact. When the war started, it had a toxic impact on people’s relationship with political institutions and politicians.
But as the documentary unfolded over the years, other elements fell into my lap. I got a political education in making this film. You begin to understand that events have to play out over time. That was a big part of why it took so long to make the film. You need the time for the connective tissue to start to appear. The worldwide protest in February of 2003 showed us that it didn’t matter where anyone was on that day–they somehow took part wherever they were, like the 70 people who demonstrated in Antarctica. People everywhere connected and saw the value of social activism.
SHOOT: And that was seen and felt all over the world, eventually yielding a revolutionary ripple effect in the Middle East.
Amirani: People in Egypt saw the huge global demonstration on February 15, 2003–some of them participated in the protest. And they began to see that a mobilization of people was possible, that they could do something themselves. Lots of splinter groups came off of that and they formed numerous democratic organizations and movements in Egypt. This all played out eight years later with the Arab Spring and the ouster of Egypt President Hosni Mubarak in 2011,
SHOOT: You produced and directed this documentary, with the process starting in 2006. Take us through the timetable for making We Are Many.
Amirani: April of next year will mark a total of 10 years since I tipped my toe into the water. From 2006 through 2010 I researched the story. I talked to people on the phone and started to piece this jigsaw puzzle together. I did a couple of test interviews and put a teaser trailer together for a Kickstarter campaign in 2011. I began proper production in 2012. I interviewed over 100 people in seven countries. Fifty or so are in the film. I feel very fortunate to be able to tell the story that nobody else had told.
SHOOT: While the passage of time yielded more insights into the original protest and its ripple effects, so too did the years put the Iraq War into perspective. How did that enter into the equation as you were making this documentary?
Amirani: The results of the war make it very hard for people to deny what the demonstrators were saying. From The Washington Post to The Guardian, right up to the recent tragedy in Paris, the consensus is that the invasion of Iraq is what unraveled the Middle East. As time passed, the more people realized what a dreadful mistake it was. Actually I shouldn’t use the word “mistake.” It was intentional deception. There’s a tendency for some to say the war was a bad mistake, let’s move on. It wasn’t a mistake. It was deception that got us into the war.
SHOOT: We Are Many had its U.K. theatrical release earlier this year. What are the plans to get the film greater exposure elsewhere?
Amirani: We’re talking to a U.S. studio that wants to take the nontheatrical rights to the film worldwide, excluding North America. We are still hoping to find a theatrical partner for worldwide release. We are specifically looking for North American theatrical and ancillary distribution. While waiting for all this, the film has qualified as one of the eligible films for the [Best Feature Documentary] Oscar. We have some limited screenings set–Dec. 4-10 at the IFC Center in New York, and December 11-17 at Laemmle Music Hall 3 in Los Angeles. We’ve also had a limited run at three or four festivals and are looking to see what else we can do on the festival circuit.
SHOOT: You’ve referenced the juxtaposition of anger and optimism relative to the historic protest in February 2003, and how We Are Many reflects those feelings. Would you expound upon that?
Amirani: Anger and optimism are a big part of what the protesters felt, and perhaps what people may feel when they see this documentary. There’s anger over injustice. And there’s optimism that you can make a positive difference in the world to help address those injustices.
