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
Shame on Spain Making Solidarity a Crime - Putting Activists who Fight Evictions Behind Bars
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On 28 June 2021, Jaime Palomera, a tenants union leader in Barcelona and two tenants were brought to trial by the Public Prosecutor and now face three years imprisonment. Their crime? Peacefully and successfully protesting violations of the tenants’ right to housing including exorbitant rent increases and uninhabitable housing conditions.
Dr. Zaida Muxi Martinez; architect, city planner, and author joins the Filmmaker and the Advocate this week to discuss the clampdown on activism in Spain, echoes of its dark past. The trio discuss the political power held by the richest families in Spain who dominate the real estate market and their ability to shut down threats to their power such as the successful tenant's movement headed by Palomera. How is it possible that Spain, a country in the European Union can so blatantly infringe the right to peaceful assembly and protest? Is Spain an outlier or is this a global pattern?
See: The Shift's Letter of Concern sent to the Government of Spain.
Produced by WG Film
Recorded & Edited by Mikey Jones
Music by Florencia Di Concilio
Social Media & Support - Maja Moberg
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pushbacktalks)