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
Greece Without the Greeks - When the Vultures Grabbed Athens
After more than a decade of austerity measures, recession, and unemployment, Athens has seen a big shift in the makeup of homeownership, a shift that comes at the expense of residents and that benefits big business. In a country where homeownership has historically been high, more and more properties have gone into foreclosure and been sold to nameless buyers as a result of Greece’s financial crisis. Public information on who owns what is not available in Greece, but it’s no secret that big foreign corporations have been buying up entire apartment blocks to turn them into short-term holiday lets, effectively displacing many long-term residents.
The Filmmaker and the Advocate sit down with Sotiris Sideris, data journalist and co-founder of Athens Live Lab, to discuss who is buying up all the foreclosed properties in Athens and what is happening to the city as a result. Using data scraping, Sotiris has discovered that Greeks are being pushed out - their homes are being auctioned off to investors who want to cash in on Greece's allure as one of the hottest tourist destinations in the world. One low-income community has been basically emptied out of locals, replaced by those wanting a glimpse of the Acropolis and a night in the Plaka. Sotiris hopes his research on private property auctions will shed light on the growing problem and perhaps provide the first steps needed in turning things around.
Find out more about the investigation (Greek Page)
Checkout Athens Live and Sotiris' amazing work mapping Who Owns The City!
More information on the Overview of the investigation
Find out more - Focus on Athens and auctions
Produced by WG Film
Recorded by Mikey Jones
Edited by Hanna Leander
Music by Florencia Di Concilio
Social Media & Support Team - Maja Moberg, Valerie Estrina, Hanna Leander