Dokumentaren Dirty Games: Olympic Evictions in Rio de Janeiro følger beboere i Vila Autódromo; et nabolag som ble nesten utslettet under forberedelsene til OL i 2016. Filmen utforsker hvordan det var å bo i Vila Autódromo mens husene ble revet, hvordan beboerne husker livet før fordrivelsene begynte, og hvordan de mobiliserte for å bevare nabolaget sitt. I samarbeid med lokale og utenlandske aktivister, journalister, forskere og filmmakere lykkes beboerne å få internasjonal oppmerksomhet rundt sin kamp for å bli boende. Filmen undersøker også konteksten for disse hendelsene; OL som et redskap for byutvikling, korrupsjon, ulikhet og globale trender som verdsetter profitt høyere enn menneskelige behov når det gjelder bruken av land. Det viktigste spørsmålet filmen stiller handler likevel om hvorfor mostanden mot å forlate Vila Autódromo var så sterk. Hva mister vi når vi mister hjem og nabolag?
Dirty Games: Olympic Evictions in Rio de Janeiro er del av forskningsprosjektet Trust as a Precondition for Socio-Economic Development: What can We Learn from the Case of Brazil?, som er finansiert av Norges Forskningsråds SAMKUL-program (Samfunnsutviklingens kulturelle forutsetninger). Dokumentaren er regissert av José Alejandro Huidobro Goya og Margit Ystanes.
The aim of this project is to produce the anthropological film #sosfavelas: Activism, Inequality and Security in the Olympic city of Rio de Janeiro. It grows out of the SAMKUL funded project Trust as a precondition for socio-economic development- what can we learn from the case of Brazil?
The SAMKUL project explores the relationship between trust, inequality and economic growth. Trust is often taken to be a prerequisite for economic growth, yet, some inequality is usually considered necessary for motivating investment and hard work. It is nevertheless also widely assumed that inequality and power differences make trust impossible. Exploring the resistance to the urban and economic development envisioned within the mega-event framework provides a lens through which this awkward relationship can be untangled. Mega-events are not merely sporting competitions, but are considered vehicles for economic growth and urban development. They therefore become sites of struggle over societal developments well beyond the events themselves.
The hosting of the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 will serve as a lens for exploring the cultural conditions for Brazil's economic growth and inequality reduction efforts. The film will follow community journalists/activists in one of the city's largest informal neighbourhoods (favelas). It will focus on the lives of collective members and their use of social media to disseminate information and protest violence and injustice brought about by the preparations for Rio's mega-events.
The film will be part of the publication and dissemination activities of the SAMKUL project. Its overall purpose is to disseminate results from this project to a wider audience. The main questions it addresses are: How do people in Rio's favelas respond to the hosting of sporting mega-events in their city? And what can these responses tell us about the societal conditions for social and economic development in the Brazilian context?