Cities are becoming increasingly unliveable for most people. Costs are rising but incomes are not. Sky-high rents, evictions, homelessness, and substandard housing are common realities for urban dwellers across the planet. There is a global housing crisis. How did this basic human right get so lost? Who is pushing people out of their homes and cities, and what’s being done to pushback? On the heels of the release of the award-winning documentary, PUSH, filmmaker, Fredrik Gertten and Leilani Farha, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, have reconvened. Join the filmmaker and the advocate as they reflect on their experiences making PUSH and exchange ideas and stories about the film's central issue: the financialization of housing and its fall-out. For more about PUSH and to view it: www.pushthefilm.com For more about Fredrik Gertten and his other films: www.wgfilm.comFor more about Leilani Farha in her new role, Global Director of The Shift: www.make-the-shift.org
https://www.wgfilm.com/
episode 3: Defending Exarcheia: Athens Neighborhood Takes on the Big Guns
For years, the Athens neighborhood of Exarcheia Square has been under attack by right-wing politicians. The area, along with nearby Strefi Hill, is a long-standing bastion of political resistance full of cafés, squats, and social centers, and the last remaining free public space in the neighborhood.
Now, the City has begun construction on a metro station without the proper permissions and against the will of the residents – who have taken to the streets in protest. As the people fight to preserve this cultural landmark and the way of life it represents, Fredrik and Leilani sit down with Eva Betavatzi (European Action Coalition), Nikolaos (No Metro in Exarcheia Assembly), and Christina (Defense of Strefi Hill Assembly) to discuss how gentrification is used as a political tool, and the power of a community that pushes back.
Sign the petition to save Exarchia Square
You can learn more about our guests and support their cause using the links below:
- European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City : Twitter, Facebook
- Open assembly for the Defense of Strefi Hill : Twitter, Blog (in Greek)
- Open assembly "No Metro in Exarcheia Square" : Twitter, Facebook (in Greek)
Learn more about the Strefi Hill area of Athens (in English):
- Athens, Greece: Interview on the battle for Strefi Hill - Corporate Watch