“There may still be two superpowers on the planet:
the United States and world public opinion.”
- The New York Times
  

Only a few days after 9/11, two divergent series of events were set in motion.

On one side, people around the world spontaneously began to organize to stop the apparent march to war, sensing there would be a terrible reaction against the tragedy in New York.

On the other side, certain politicians in a number of countries began to organize for war, first against Afghanistan, and then against Iraq.

The inside story of these two conflicting reactions to 9/11 is at the heart of this film.

The protests did not succeed in stopping the war. Indeed, it is doubtful if they ever could have succeeded, in the light of what has emerged about the powerfully invested drive to war.

But the global movement that began with that day, mobilised in large part by the Internet, continued to grow in strength. Its presence and effects are still being felt in many ways.

We Are Many will be more than a remarkable collective story of humanity – it will be a contribution given back to the movement against war. It will reunite, both physically through networking on the website, and in spirit through the film, the people who took part on 15 February 2003.

Together, the film and website will support and promote the ever growing public vigilance around the world against present and future wars.

15 February, 2003

On February 15, 2003, millions of ordinary citizens in over 800 cities around the world poured into the streets to protest against the rush towards the invasion of Iraq.

According to BBC News, 6 to 10 million people took part in protests in up to 60 countries, on every continent, over the weekend of the 15th and 16th of February 2003. Other reports estimated the actual number was closer to 30 million. Protesters from Tasmania to Iceland, New York to Sydney, and London to Rome, marched against the impending war in Iraq. Even at the McMurdo base in Antarctica, 
more than 50 scientists staged a half-hour rally.

It has been described as "the biggest and most widespread collective protest the world has ever seen.”  This film will unveil the drama, emotion, magnitude and testimonies of a historic day.

More and more details continue to emerge from ongoing inquiries into the actual origins of the war, and this film will amass these devastating revelations alongside the testimonies of how ordinary people organized for peace.

Be a part of this project. Tell us your stories, become part of a movement that started with a historic day.
 

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The Observer, 16 February 2003:

“Half a mile away, round the corner in Piccadilly, the ground shook. An ocean, a perfect storm of people. Banners, a bobbing cherry-blossom of banners, covered every inch back to the Circus - and for miles beyond, south to the river, north to Euston.

There were nuns. Toddlers. Women barristers. The Eton George Orwell Society. Archaeologists Against War. There were country folk and lecturers, dentists and poulterers, a hairdresser from Cardiff and a poet from Cheltenham.”

It was the biggest public demonstration ever held in Britain, surpassing every one of the organisers' wildest expectations and Tony Blair's worst fears, and it will be remembered for the bleak bitterness of the day and the colourful warmth of feeling in the extraordinary crowds.”

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