Activists and groups on the left opposed the World Trade Organization and its 1999 Ministerial Conference in Seattle as they saw the WTO as anti-democratic, autocratic, secretive and unaccountable, and as a threat to democratic oversight and national sovereignty.
[6] One section of the film juxtaposes interviews with protesters who describe these encounters and alliances with footage of "the actual occurrence of collective mobilization and identities occurring on the street.
"[7] The film's final two segments focus on global food production and attacks on civil liberties alleged by members of the National Lawyers Guild to have been committed by police during the protests.
This requires a considerable logistic effort, and the internal organization of the [Independent Media Center] office accordingly does not look principally different from a commercial TV broadcaster.
[5]Herman Gilman, writing in the Labor Studies Journal, described the film as "an unprecedented illustration of how far evolved is the anti-corporate coalition of labor, environment, and human-rights groups" and wrote that "Showdown in Seattle pulsates with potent sound bites from the vast array of anti-globalization spokespersons and reflects the frantic pace and environment created by the protestors.
"[8] Robé notes, however, that "in addition to providing amazing immediate coverage of events and hinting at a new collective subjectivity, Showdown suffers from being firmly lodged at times within a Western, white privileged perspective.