OWS freeze frame: ‘The US could end up like Egypt or Libya’
As the protest movement spills out from the US and takes over the world, one award-winning director cuts the long story down to a short film, highlighting the double standards of US leaders.
“I’m Not Moving” is a brilliant title for this seven-minute edit of speeches by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – and protests across the US and in countries like Egypt and Libya. The short film shows both the unmoving position of US authorities when it comes to domestic matters, and the hypocrisy people in the US and all over the world are trying to fight. Director Corey Ogilvie says his main goal was to showcase one constant between these seemingly different events.“If you watch the film,” Ogilvie told RT, “you will see there’s some shots, for example, in Egypt, the horses rode through the protesters and tried to suppress the protests. The exact same thing happened at the G20. Shot for shot, it was identical. If you look at the suppression of journalists in Egypt and Syria, shot for shot it is identical. So this film isn’t comparing the demands. What this film is doing is comparing the repression.”The film – like the protest movement – has gone viral. In a worldwide bid for change, thousands upon thousands will take to the streets in Europe, Asia and the Americas. The “October 15 united for #globalchange” movement will be seen and heard in over 950 cities worldwide. 82 countries are on the list, preparing for one of the largest global rallies in years. It is the magnitude of the movement that is gathering attention from the likes of Corey Ogilvie.“What inspired me”, the director said, “is the amount of people that are capturing every moment of this event.”The movement has certainly been gaining momentum. What started out as a simple “Occupy Wall Street” rally in New York turned into a weeks-long national outrage – and quickly spread overseas. The people, angry with what they see as politics and policies benefiting the few, call themselves the “99 percent” – and they are demanding change. Ogilvie says that if the leaders don’t listen, this movement could easily become a revolution. “The people will only take so much,” he said. “That’s the central message: you can only push them down for so long.”
