Day 410. WorldCup2018
Two days ago I watched the fantastic documentary, "The Workers Cup".
Today I had the pleasure of watching the world premiere of another
truly, thought provoking, deep emotion generating documentary, "State of
Exception." Director Jason O'Hara followed the struggles, and battles,
of a group of indigenous people in Rio ("urban Indians") and favela
residents against the threat of eviction from their land and homes to
make way for the World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 Olympics.
Without
doubt, when this documentary comes your way, it is a must see. While we
may have seen news reports at the time of the heavy hand of the
authorities in Rio, and the mass protests, watching this today took it
to a whole new powerful, emotional level. The sense of injustice
suffered by these innocent people in the name of sport, supposedly, was
intense. The "Urban Indians" fought for a dilapidated building to be an
indigenous museum but which happened to be too close to the $500m
renovated Maracana stadium. And the residents of numerous favelas
fought, literally, with armed police to not lose the houses which many
of them had built with their own hands.Seeing the individuals, rather
than just the masses reported on the news, made me, the viewer, feel
very connected to their suffering.
As with "The Workers Cup"
there was also a subtle sense of irony. Maybe this was a more personal
reaction this time, based on years of reading about the importance of
football in Brazilian culture. Once the World Cup started, young kids
ran around the favelas in their Brazil shirts and streets were decorated
with flags and banners. And many of those kids definitely dream of
being the next Neymar and playing for Brazil in the Maracana. But this
does in no way diminish or take away from the very important message of
resistance. Some of the people interviewed mentioned that they had
nothing against the World Cup and the Olympics, but just what was
happening to them. This was later countered, maybe unintentionally by
the Director, by the Mayor of Rio saying that everybody loved the World
Cup and Olympics in Brazil because everything was being done in a good,
or correct, way.
Most people's anger was directed at Fifa. It was
easy to assume that their may have been a feeling of the police and
army acting on behalf of Fifa, not the Brazilian government. People
asked for Fifa where their money was to pay for their bus fare, or
houses, or education. After the screening, Jason O'Hara was asked if he
went to Fifa for a response, for the other side of the argument. What
good would it have done to have had a PR person from Fifa go on about
their view, he asked. This film was about these individuals. There has
been enough time spent on Fifa having their say, he said, and they have
enough money to make their own film. (Cheers and applause from the
audience).
It is a wonderful part of the Toronto Hot Docs
Festival having the directors present to take questions after their
films. Mr. O'Hara's passion for what he had witnessed in putting this
together came across very vividly and was an impressive extension to the
film we had just watched.
One viewer asked Mr. O'Hara if he
thought the silence in the movie theatre was symbolic of the depression
most people felt after what they had seen. The reply was powerful and
impressive. Please don't be depressed, Mr. O'Hara pleaded. Feel
empowered, like i did, by the strength of the these people in their
resistance. Take to the streets for what you believe in, to shape the
world in the way you think it should be shaped, he concluded to loud
applause.
Adam Sobel, after the screening of his film, "The
Workers Cup" appealed to the audience to seek the answer to the question
of our feelings about the World Cup, when considering the plight of the
migrant workers. I thought that again today. I am huge fan of the World
Cup but can I be a supporter of Fifa's flagship tournament at this
cost? Or can the message of resistance, and demand for change, bring
about a different way of World Cup's being organised? They don't have to
be resisted to the point of being done away with, but there should a
global demand for a different way, one that comes along with respect and
more consideration for the host country and it's residents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMpSXXVbr8
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