Constructing Sochi
Director Steffi Wurster
Countries Germany
Duration 73 min
Synopsis
Four residents, a mayor, the fruitful soil and Ice palaces built up from nothing The inhabitants of the Imeretinskaya Bay - the location of the Olympic Coastal Cluster in Sochi - traditionally earned their living from agriculture. As the master plan of the games is gradually being implemented the residents are relocated from their fertile ground. On their plots the Olympic Park, Hotels and infrastructure are built from the ground up. The people have to trade their large plots in for a modern house on a smaller site. We see Lena, Pascha, Ludmilla and Volodja in their old and new homes. Through their eyes we experience their attachment to the land as well as the early anxiety, lack of information and power in the fight for adequate compensations., By giving voice to the residents whose views go unheeded in the official media, the long-term documentary shows to what extent the Olympic Winter Games change the residents' living and working situation. The residents' bottom-up perspective is contrasted with the „top-down“ perspective, i.e. Sochi's mayor, Anatoly Pakhomov. In the manner of a little zar we see him driving through the city. With pretty arrogance, he emphasises, The people will be satisfied. But the rhetoric is contrary to Volodja`s hardship cases, the undervaluation of the large-scale properties, as obvious in Pascha´s case and the nerve-racking process of relocation of which Volodja can tell. The settlers' stories help to look behind the glamorous Olympic façade. Observing the microcosm of the bay, the shots focus on making visible the brute force with which an overgrown and sedate area is turned into an extensively built-up urban area. We learn about the impact of the megaproject on the people for whom the loss of their huge gardens means a loss of livelihood. The film depicts the structural change by focusing on different approaches to the ground. For the protagonists Pascha and Lena the soil is a traditional part of their identity, it is emotionally charged and a basis of their (former) existence. For the Olympiamakers soil, gravel etc. are profitable building materials that are used in a simple materialistic sense.In a subjective way, the film explores the correlation between space, place and the creation of individual and collective identity.
Four residents, a mayor, the fruitful soil and Ice palaces built up from nothing The inhabitants of the Imeretinskaya Bay - the location of the Olympic Coastal Cluster in Sochi - traditionally earned their living from agriculture. As the master plan of the games is gradually being implemented the residents are relocated from their fertile ground. On their plots the Olympic Park, Hotels and infrastructure are built from the ground up. The people have to trade their large plots in for a modern house on a smaller site. We see Lena, Pascha, Ludmilla and Volodja in their old and new homes. Through their eyes we experience their attachment to the land as well as the early anxiety, lack of information and power in the fight for adequate compensations., By giving voice to the residents whose views go unheeded in the official media, the long-term documentary shows to what extent the Olympic Winter Games change the residents' living and working situation. The residents' bottom-up perspective is contrasted with the „top-down“ perspective, i.e. Sochi's mayor, Anatoly Pakhomov. In the manner of a little zar we see him driving through the city. With pretty arrogance, he emphasises, The people will be satisfied. But the rhetoric is contrary to Volodja`s hardship cases, the undervaluation of the large-scale properties, as obvious in Pascha´s case and the nerve-racking process of relocation of which Volodja can tell. The settlers' stories help to look behind the glamorous Olympic façade. Observing the microcosm of the bay, the shots focus on making visible the brute force with which an overgrown and sedate area is turned into an extensively built-up urban area. We learn about the impact of the megaproject on the people for whom the loss of their huge gardens means a loss of livelihood. The film depicts the structural change by focusing on different approaches to the ground. For the protagonists Pascha and Lena the soil is a traditional part of their identity, it is emotionally charged and a basis of their (former) existence. For the Olympiamakers soil, gravel etc. are profitable building materials that are used in a simple materialistic sense.In a subjective way, the film explores the correlation between space, place and the creation of individual and collective identity.