VIEW: Battle in Seattle premiere & party
VIEW: Portraits from the 2007 Toronto Film Festival
TORONTO FILM FEST MAIN

André Benjamin in Battle for Seattle

On December 10, 2006, singer-actor André Benjamin of Outkast fame donned a cardboard turtle suit and joined a group of fellow "protesters" on the streets of Seattle. Seven years before, tens of thousands of real demonstrators had descended upon the Seattle Convention Center and surrounding hotels to protest the actions of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The turtle-clad demonstrators — whose costumes highlighted the plight of turtles killed by shrimp nets — joined other anti-globalization vocalists and rallied against the leaders of the WTO, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank in sometimes violent clashes with police. Benjamin's participation in the re-enactment of the events of November 30, 1999, was for Battle in Seattle, a feature film by first-time helmer Stuart Townsend (perhaps best known for his role as Lestat in Queen of the Damned that stars an ensemble cast including Woody Harrelson, Michelle Rodriguez, and Martin Henderson, as well as Townsend's long-term girlfriend, Academy Award–winner Charlize Theron.

While several documentaries have been made about the civil unrest that unfolded in Seattle against the WTO Ministerial Conference, this is the first time the topic has been adapted for a major motion picture. Theron and Townsend, who have had limited box-office success with their previous collaborative projects Trapped and Head in the Clouds, are hoping that Battle in Seattle will connect with Hollywood's current interest in films inspired by political events. At the Toronto International Film Festival, Theron discusses the importance of making films like In the Valley of Elah and Battle in Seattle, while Townsend reveals the difficulties of directing such an ambitious project on a $10 million budget.

What was the genesis of this project and why this issue?
Townsend: I first started thinking about doing this film in 2002. And I remembered the event in 1999, but barely. I didn't really gain any knowledge or insight into the WTO or what the protesters were protesting about. I just saw the violence with the anarchists and the riots and stuff. And then I was reading a book about globalization by Anita Roddick called Take It Personally, and in the book there were photographs of the violence in Seattle. And they just really captured my imagination. So I went on the Internet and started looking to see what the Battle of Seattle was and I saw a story instantly. I thought it was really cinematic and visual. And the more I started researching the story, the more and more I was amazed at how little I knew about the event, and I asked myself why. So I thought it was a story that needed to re-remembered in a way. And it kind of started from there. I could see it in my head, so I decided I wanted to actually direct it and make a movie rather than give it to someone or act in it.

Battle in Seattle director Stuart Townsend with stars Charlize Theron and Martin Henderson at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival Photo by Matt Carr

And this is your directorial debut. Was it intimidating approaching a project of this nature?
Townsend: I didn't look at it as intimidating, no. I really just loved the story and I decided not to even think about a defeatist attitude. I am going to try to make this. Hopefully I can do it. Maybe I can't. If I fall on my face, then I fall on my face. But I really felt passionately about the story.

Charlize, you are here at the Toronto Film Festival for Battle in Seattle as well as In the Valley of Elah. They are linked by their strong political overtones. Are these projects that you actively seek out for that reason?
Theron: No, I am interested in people, and I think we find ourselves in really interesting circumstances right now. At the end of the day, I am really drawn to good stories and the circumstances in both of these happen to be very socially relevant right now. But it is not an agenda of mine. It is not something that I really seek out, but it is always nice when you can do something that you really believe in and know that is going to be a part of your legacy.