{"id":31295,"date":"2016-09-10T09:43:29","date_gmt":"2016-09-10T12:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=31295"},"modified":"2025-08-07T12:07:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T15:07:07","slug":"olympia-film-mixes-documentary-and-fantasy-to-tell-the-story-of-corruption-in-rio-de-janeiro-film-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=31295","title":{"rendered":"Olympia Film Mixes Doc and Fantasy to Tell Story of Corruption in Rio de Janeiro [FILM REVIEW]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Olympia<\/a><\/em>\u00a0is a\u00a0jarring new documentary-fiction film that explores the nature of\u00a0corruption<\/a> in the lead up to the\u00a02016 Olympic Games<\/a>. Inspired by the work of investigative journalist Lucio Vaz and real events in Brazil’s history, writer and director Rodrigo Mac Niven cleverly juxtaposes fictional and non-fictional worlds. The film, which was successfully crowdfunded and completed in just six months, is set for release on\u00a0September 15.\u00a0Part legend, part documentary, part political thriller, Olympia<\/em> rings hauntingly familiar in post-Olympic Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The film takes place in the\u00a0city of Olympia, a fictionalized\u00a0Rio de Janeiro with its own elaborate graphic novel\u00a0backstory entitled Olympia: A Historia Perdida <\/em>(Olympia: The Lost History). The story, while mythological, is a familiar narrative of political oppression. A\u00a0people once free, represented\u00a0in the story as winged voadores<\/em>\u00a0(flyers), are persecuted, their wings forcibly clipped by the land-driven\u00a0and land-bound p\u00e9s-no-ch\u00e3o<\/em>\u00a0(feet-on-the-ground). A pivotal moment of the\u00a0story is when the p\u00e9s-no-ch\u00e3o<\/em>\u00a0behead a voador<\/em> named Demokracia in the name of maintaining order. The symbolic act becomes a motif in the film.<\/p>\n

The film itself opens in 19th century Barra da Bananal, a reference to\u00a0Barra da Tijuca.<\/a> We see a woman desperately running from a masked horseman, a standoff that is supposed to be a reference to the farmers and fisherman who had their land stolen by the wealthy dons of Barra da Tijuca. The area today, one of the Olympic centers, is a site of\u00a0continuing land disputes and a focal point of the film.<\/p>\n

We are then transported to\u00a0modern day Olympia, a dystopian Rio de Janeiro where a decapitated Demokracia stands conspicuously\u00a0in the place of Christ the Redeemer. Here, Mac Niven is introduced to real-life lawyer and environmental activist Jean Carlos Novaes. In the scene, which is a recreation of the conversation that started the\u00a0Olympia\u00a0<\/em>film project, Novaes tells Mac Niven that the controversial\u00a0Olympic Golf course<\/a>\u00a0is built on an environmental reserve. A law was passed revoking the protected status of the land and allowing the construction to move forward. This legal action, which was actually reversed last month<\/a>, is a prime example of corrupt government practices in Brazil.\u00a0Inspired, Mac Niven enlists the help of his journalist friend\u00a0<\/em>Lia, played by Patricia Abelson, and the team of three\u00a0sets out to\u00a0make a film.<\/p>\n

\"Rodrigo<\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0audience is drawn into the meta investigative\u00a0process\u00a0as the scandals of the film are all thinly disguised references\u00a0to actual people and events\u00a0in Rio. The film, while grounded in reality, always provocatively edges towards the fantastical. As the characters delve deeper into the investigation, their wings emblematically emerge again.<\/p>\n

Intense scenes in Olympia are cut with traditional documentary style sit-down interviews with\u00a0a wide range\u00a0of experts\u00a0and political figures including attendees of the the\u00a02012 International Anti-corruption Congress in Bras\u00edlia. Other speakers include Colombian philosopher\u00a0Bernardo Toro and Brazilian poet S\u00e9rgio Vaz, who poignantly recites his poem “Os Miser\u00e1veis<\/a>” (The Miserables).<\/p>\n

\"Resident<\/a><\/p>\n

Notably, the film features an entire portion dedicated to documenting the stories of residents of\u00a0Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a> and their astounding history of resistance<\/a> against Olympic evictions<\/a>. Each featured resident sits on a single chair, perched precariously among the ruins of their demolished community. Overhead drone camera\u00a0shots and combined\u00a0with real audio footage from the June 3 attempted demolitions<\/a> in\u00a0Vila Autodromo\u00a0make this story feel, appropriately, like something from a horror movie.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0film’s tag line,\u00a0“the city where not everyone has a price,” comes directly from the mouth of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s well-loved leader, Maria da Penha. Her slogan, which came to represent the community’s struggle, was often spray-painted on the walls of the community.\u00a0But, while not everyone has a price, it becomes clear through the film that the 2016 Olympics does:\u00a0US$20 billion<\/a>, according to estimates from featured economist\u00a0Andrew Zimbalist<\/a>, not to mention\u00a0the huge environmental and social costs of the Games. After hearing testimonials from experts such\u00a0as\u00a0Chris Dempsey, co-chair of No Boston Olympics<\/a>, it begins to seem like being named an Olympic host city is more of a curse than a prize.<\/p>\n

\"Vila<\/a><\/p>\n

The film closes with a televised speech from Pablo Passos, played by Cl\u00e1udio Mendes, the fictionalized Municipal Secretary and mayoral candidate for\u00a0Olympia. Mendes, in what is perhaps the best performance of the film, delivers a\u00a0monologue brimming\u00a0with\u00a0self-righteous condescension. “Equality? Human rights?!” he mocks.<\/p>\n

Stranger than fiction, and definitely stranger than documentary, Olympia<\/em> is a film\u00a0that leaves one unsettled. The film delivers an urgent whisper in the ear of its\u00a0audience to wake up and find\u00a0the courage needed to develop a new political ethics. The film itself, featuring real-life warriors for democracy and justice and\u00a0534 fictional\u00a0voadores<\/em>, stands as a compelling example of the power of collective bravery.<\/p>\n

Olympia is on release in Brazilian cinemas from September 15. For more information see the film’s Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watch the official trailer (in Portuguese) here:<\/h3>\n