Panel at Guardian Live preview screening of We Are Many: (l-r) Tamsin Omond, Amir Amirani, Seumas Milne, Ruth London, John Rees and Katherine Connolly, 17 May 2015. Photograph: James Drew Turner/Guardian
We Are Many, Amir Amirani’s epic film about the global anti Iraq war protests of 2003, received a four-minute standing ovation when it debuted at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival last June. The buzz about its national cinema release this Thursday (21 May) was amplified by Stephen Fry enthusing: “I’m not sure a trailer has ever made me want to see a film more,” to his 9.7 million Twitter army. Britpop godfather Damon Albarn has announced that he will be joining Amir and a select panel for a Q&A that will be streamed live on the opening night of the film at all participating cinemas.
As such, the documentary is blessed with credible hype, and the foyer of north-east London’s Rio cinema was thick with anticipation on Sunday afternoon asGuardian Members came together for an exclusive preview of the one-to-watch doc from the new Michael Moore on the block.
About 30 million people in 800 cities on every continent (even Antarctica) marched against the Iraq war on the 15 February 2003. Charting the biggest civil protest in history with depth and authentic political perspective is no walk in the park. But Amirani pulls it off with panache, stemming largely from the impressive breadth of heavyweight contributors that he enlisted for the film.
An interview with Hans Blix candidly discussing the “arms” rhetoric used by the Bush and Blair administrations to justify warmongering is woven into compelling archive footage of disillusioned veterans trashing their medals in public acts of fury. One minute we’re watching Richard Branson recalling his failed peacekeeping mission to smuggle Nelson Mandela into secret talks with Saddam Hussein, the next we’re shown stunning aerial footage of protestors on mass defiantly declaring “not in my name”. The effect is made ever more magnificent by a haunting original score by Stop the War supporter Brian Eno.
Along the way, TV coverage of Robin Cook’s protest resignation from government commands the screen. Counter to the flashing montage of graphic images of Iraqi civilian fatalities, Cook’s career-defining moment delivers a welcome reminder of political humanitarianism and prompts a ripple of applause in the Rio auditorium.
No film can rewrite political history, and We Are Many inevitably recounts the sobering fact that 30 million objectors across the planet failed to halt the British and US invasion of Iraq. But the narrative, thankfully, doesn’t stop there. Amirani’s labour of love (it took him nine years to make and he had to remortgage his house three times for finance) goes on to advocate that the protests have, in fact, continued to positively shape political history throughout the past decade.
It suggests that while the victory of the 2003 global protests can’t be found in the barbaric bloodshed and countless innocent lives that have been lost in Iraq, the united stand made Cameron and co steer clear of the conflict in Syria and unequivocally paved the way for the uprising in Egypt.
This substantiated notion that we collectively have the power to propel social and political change beyond our constitutional right to make a cross at the ballot box is compelling. It begs the question why We Are Many shouldn’t become a staple watch on the national curriculum. And surely it’s reason to believe why we need to keep marching against what we truly feel to be unjust, right?
There’s a further flurry of applause when the late Stop the War activist Tony Benn brings Amirani’s rousing documentary to a close with sheer poetic poignancy: “There are two forces at work, always. A hatred of injustice, that makes you angry. And a belief that you can make a better world, that makes you optimistic. Anger and optimism coming together is a very powerful force.”
Panel discussion
After the screening, Seumas Milne (Guardian columnist and associate editor) chaired a lively panel discussion.
Here’s a summary of who said what:
Director Amir Amirani on how the invasion of Iraq impacted on the mindset of the British nation: “It’s hard to overestimate the extraordinary corrosive and catastrophic affect that the denial of the people had on public faith in democracy and our politics.”
Katherine Connolly (organiser of Student Walkout in 2003) on how the 15 February 2003 taught people to protest and mobilise change: “The run up to the [People’s Assembly Against Austerity] demonstration on June 20 feels like the early days of the anti war movement. There are stalls every single weekend. People are talking about it!”
Ruth London (Fuel Poverty Action) on the importance of varied, long-term activism: “We really need people that are prepared to see beyond the big moment and do the day-to-day work… the work that will enable us to survive bad moments and make big victories.”
Tamsin Omond (environmental activist and journalist) on the positive outcomes of direct action: “The successes of the environmental movement have come because there’s been a vanguard of people prepared to put themselves, at personal cost, in the way of the construction of things.”
John Rees (national officer of the Stop the War Coalition) on why the 15 February 2003 protests were not a failure: “[The protests have] rippled out through the years and had more profound effects on a longer term scale than we could possible have thought we were doing on that day.”