Just in time Vice magazine takes an in-depth look at the British public’s reaction to The Games coming to London this summer and the negative impact it’s having on certain people’s lives.
The six week festival promises to bring a celebration of unity and sporting achievement, not to mention a huge cash injection to our beleaguered capital. The film questions the real effects of The Games on a city as complex and tempestuous as London and discovers that they go much deeper, and murkier than the Olympics’ media spin-machine would have us believe.
In episode one, VICE visit the Carpenters Estate in East London, that is being demolished to make way for the Olympic Games and spoke with the families living in these houses – some, for almost half a century – being dispersed and relocated as far away as Barking and Dagenham: a consequence of what we’re being told is “regeneration”.
We also speak to Mike Wells of Games Monitor, who through his research has uncovered less than savoury practices, such as the disturbance of radioactive waste on the Olympic Stadium site.
Finally, we examine the social and cultural impact of the Games with acclaimed author, Iain Sinclair who talks to us about how the landscape of Hackney/Newham has changed due to The Olympics and the true ‘legacy’ that the venture will leave in Britain.
