Occupy Cinema: Inside Occupy Wall Street’s Collaborative Documentary

By Jared Keller

 

  Jan 5 2012, 11:50 AM ET 2 A new documentary seeks to capture the spirit of Occupy Wall Street by embodying the movement’s open, collaborative structure.

On October 2nd, filmmaker Audrey Ewell suddenly found herself in the middle of a new project. The previous day, nearly 1,500 protesters made their way from Zuccotti Park across the Brooklyn Bridge as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Nearly 700 were arrested. After spending the day filming the confrontation between police and protesters with her partner, Aaron Aites, Ewell emailed a few fellow filmmakers to see if they’d be interested in shooting a documentary on the then-undercovered Occupy movement. The response was enormous and immediate, and with a single email thread, 99%: the Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film, was born. The protesters that staked a claim to Zuccotti Park and other public spaces across the country have given rise to many film projects, from the amateur and whimsical to the star-powered. But with nearly 70 contributors pooling footage from more than a dozen cities, Ewell and Aites’s film stands apart: To independently document the many perspectives and narratives within the Occupy movement, 99% is being assembled in a collaborative, deliberative manner inspired by Occupy itself.

The making of this film is as much a part of this story as the process of Occupy Wall Street is a part of their story.

“We drew inspiration for the production process based on what we first saw at the New York General Assembly,” explains Ewell over the phone. “The making of this film is as much a part of this story as the process of Occupy Wall Street is a part of their story.”

Most importantly, today they reached their kickstarter goal! The film is going to be made! Hurray! Now to help fund the film being made by occupylove.org (at their indiegogo project). Let’s get the word out and make this happen! Movies like this will draw crowds of millions to our protests this summer. This is just the beginning.