Olympic Coverage: Gypsy Team Kicked Out

I’ve been looking at a number of sites focusing on the human cost of staging the Olympics. Story points include the covering up of so-called “unsightly buildings”, installation of the massive network of surveillance cameras, and the omnipresence of the “big brother” spy blimp.

One of the most reasoned and impassioned critiques, however, comes from a pair of American film makers. Cameron Hickey and Lauren Feeney moved to Greece two years ago to do a film on the social impact of the Olympics. Not having a particular topic in mind, they ended up focusing on a community of gypsies who lost their homes for the sake of an Olympic parking lot.

In addition to the film project, Hickey and Feeney bring a real time flavor to their observations with a blog, Athens Daily, chronicling the Olympics from a dispassionate expatriate perspective.

extended clip: windows media; quicktime (winner of the “Reportage Without Frontiers” contest for new documentary filmmakers)