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DVD release of 30 Frames A Second: The WTO in Seattle

Now available for the first time on DVD exclusively at 30framesfilm.com

For the last 5 years, this award-winning film was only available to educational buyers and public libraries. Now, for the first time, it can be purchased by individuals in a newly remastered, letterboxed DVD (details below).

What happened in Seattle in late 1999 made history: a global convention of trade delegates from the World Trade Organization (WTO) gathered there for their annual meeting and were met in the streets by more than 50,000 demonstrators. A popular uprising ensued, resulting in riots, mass arrests, and the shutting down of the WTO convention. Veteran news cameraman Rustin Thompson’s compelling first-person account of the chaos is both an artful reflection on the nature of subjective photojournalism and an exhilarating, street-level depiction of an unruly outbreak of democracy, which changed the way police and governments handled mass demonstrations around the world.

“Polished and provocative”—Chicago Sun Times
“A standout documentary”—Amy Taubin, The Village Voice
“A must-see”—Jonathan Rosenbaum, the Chicago Reader
“A vivid first-person account…will surely stand as the definitive record of that week’s turbulent events”—Seattle Times
“A fine work of memory, delicately crafted”—The Stranger (Seattle)
“One of the most jarring things I’ve seen in ages”—New City, Chicago

30 Frames A Second won the Best Documentary awards at the Chicago Underground Film Festival, the Seattle Underground Film Festival, and the Portland Festival of World Cinema. It was named one of the Top Ten Non-fiction titles of 2002 by the American Library Association; one of the Best Undistributed Films of 2001 by the Village Voice; and one of the Top Five Videos of the year by esteemed Chicago film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum.

The movie is available for the first time in a remastered, letterboxed DVD edition for only $20.00. Visit