PUSHBACK Talks
Landlords without faces, apartments without tenants. In 2019, filmmaker Fredrik Gertten released Push, an award-winning documentary that explores the unaffordable, unlivable city, and the growing global housing crisis. Following the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Leilani Farha, the film sought to understand why cities around the world are becoming increasingly expensive.
In June of 2020, Fredrik and Leilani teamed up again to continue the conversation they began with the film, and PUSHBACK Talks was born. Since then, PUSHBACK Talks has grown into an exploration of the social, political, and economic forces that shape our world, and of the actions people are taking to push back against inequality, corruption, authoritarian systems, poverty, war, and the shift towards far-right conservatism.
Join the Filmmaker (Gertten) and the Advocate (Farha) as they dissect these topics, uncover the connections between them, and search for solutions. How can we, as individuals, movements, and communities, fight back – push back – to build societies where every human being has the right to live equally, freely, and with dignity?
Listen to PUSHBACK Talks and join the conversation for a better, fairer world.
For more about PUSH and to view it: www.pushthefilm.com
For more about Leilani Farha and her organization, The Shift: www.make-the-shift.org
For more about Fredrik Gertten and his other films: www.wgfilm.com
If you are interested in watching his newest documentary: www.breakingsocialfilm.com
PUSHBACK Talks
The Golden Ticket — Citizenship for Sale
Golden Visas - backdoor entry into Europe for the corrupt and wealthy. Money can't buy you love but it can buy a passport!
In this episode The Filmmaker and The Advocate explore the dark world of Golden Visas which emerged after the Global Financial Crisis on the advice of the IMF and the Central European Bank as a way for economically failing countries to access big cash. Countries with Golden Visa schemes allow foreign investors in real estate to jump the queue and secure residency and citizenship. This has led to a massive influx of corrupt money into these economies, while inflating housing costs for local residents.
The co-hosts discuss the Cyprus Papers and compare notes from Leilani's investigation of Golden Visas when she visited Portugal as UN Special Rapporteur, and Fredrik's screening of PUSH-the film in Cyprus where everyone was expressing anger about how expensive their housing had become.
Golden Visas offer a different side to the same story: the uber-wealthy around the globe treating housing as a commodity, making cities less affordable. This time, with a crime twist, and important implications for global migration.
For more background on the #CyprusPapers, check out this Al Jazeera story: https://www.aljazeera.com/investigations/cypruspapers/
Produced by WG Film
Recorded & Edited by Mikey Jones
Music by Florencia Di Concilio
Social Media & Support Team - Louise Gustafsson, Maja Moberg & Melinda Bergstrand