We Are Many

Nine years in the making, this impressive doc pieces together the story of the biggest global protest in history. On February 15 2003, more than one million people marched through London against the impending war in Iraq – joined by activists in more than 600 cities.

Their blood boiling, the protesters talk about the drumbeat for war after 9/11, then, giddy all over again, they recall the dizzying numbers who took to the streets. Spy writer John le Carré marched with his family. Not a man to mince words, he describes the Iraq War as ‘the crime of the century’. He’s joined by actor Mark Rylance, the late politician Tony Benn and musician Brian Eno, who hired two weapons inspectors to pore through the government’s argument for war (they were not convinced).

The protesters seem dazed still that such a massive demonstration couldn’t stop shock and awe. But ‘We Are Many’ closes on a hopeful note, looking at the ripples that began on that day. The founder of online campaigning community 38 Degrees explains how the failure led him to start his petition website, while protesters in Egypt tell us that the protest planted the seeds for their revolution.