Olympic Favela (2016)

• 75%
• 2016
• Documentary
• Marc Ohrem-Leclef

Rio de Janeiro finds itself in the world's gaze as never before as host of the 2016 Olympic Games. While preparations for the games press ahead, many inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro who have historically called Rio's slums (favelas) home, risk being overlooked: Since 2011 the city government has been removing thousands of families from their homes to prepare for the Olympic Games. OLYMPIC FAVELA portrays the favela residents' relationship with their communities. At the center of the film are the families of fisherman Barao and the baker Arimatea who are forced to give up their homes and businesses in Vila Autodromo, an idyllic community on the shore of the Lagoon of Jacarepagua, close to the newly built Olympic Park. While Barao's family is torn apart by virtue of how the city allocates replacement housing in hastily built social housing complexes, Arimatea's new home bears the promise of a new start.