Screening 1: A Place in the City (2025)
Monday, 23 November
A Place in the City examines hope, resistance, and collective action in Latin American cities. Written and directed by Dr Gabriel Silvestre (Newcastle University), the film delves into the enduring influence of philosopher Henri Lefebvre’s revolutionary ideas on the “right to the city.” Through the lens of communities in Santiago (Chile), Rosario (Argentina), and Belo Horizonte (Brazil), it reveals how ordinary people are reclaiming urban space, fighting for their rights while actively shaping more inclusive neighbourhoods.
Guest: Dr. Gabriel Silvestre
Screening 2: Sí Se Puede (2014)
Monday, 30 November
Conceived as a user’s manual, Sí Se Puede portraits what a common week would look like inside the main anti-eviction movement in Spain: the PAH (Platform for People Affected by Mortgages). The film placed cameras at the heart of the Barcelona’s organization during one year to depict, not only the post-housing bubble drama, but mainly the deep process of transformation and empowerment of those who form this unique social movement praised throughout the world.
Guest: Pau Faus
Screening 3: Paradise Not for Sale and Building Utopia (both 2023)
Monday, 7 December
Paradise Not for Sale (Lieven Bulckens and Line Algoed) follows the struggle of the people of Barbuda to protect their island from being sold to property developers. Under the 2007 Barbuda Land Act, land is owned communally rather than privately. Land is ancestral, and the foundation of a way of life built on collective care. As global capitalism pushes private ownership and large-scale tourism, the film shows a community refusing to treat land as a commodity and defending its mangroves and coastline as a matter of climate justice.
Building Utopia (Carla Cavina) gives voice to leaders of the Caño Martín Peña Community Land Trust in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Since 2004, residents of seven self-built neighbourhoods have collectively owned and managed their land. This protects them from displacement and gentrification while they restore the polluted Martín Peña waterway and improve housing and infrastructure.
The films will be followed by a discussion of Dr. Line Algoed’s doctoral research on collective forms of land ownership in the Caribbean and a presentation of her book Our Land, Our Survival.
Guest: Dr. Line Algoed
Screening 4: Mother City (2024)
Monday, 14 December
Directed by Pearlie Joubert and Miki Redelinghuys, Mother City charts a defiant war against government and property developers in one of the world’s most unequal cities, Cape Town. In 2016, the South African government sold prime land, meant for affordable housing, to a private developer. This careless disregard of housing needs of Capetonians gave birth to the social justice movement, “Reclaim the City”. Through the deeply personal story of activist, Nkosikhona Swartbooi, Mother City follows, over 6 years, the David and Goliath battle in a city disfigured by spatial apartheid.
Guest: Pearlie Joubert
Screening 5: Tenants Take Over: The Story of Caroline Co-op (2026)
Monday, 21 December
When their landlord put their 21-unit building at 272 Caroline St S in Hamilton up for sale, the tenants formed an association, fearing rent hikes or renovictions under a new owner. They organized, fundraised, and, with municipal and philanthropic support, bought the building in 2024 and converted it into a non-profit housing co-operative.
Tenants Take Over follows the campaign, is a blueprint for tenant groups facing housing uncertainty, and shows what is possible when working-class people take control of their homes: better conditions, deeper affordability, real community.
The screening will be followed by a discussion on tenant cooperatives in Brussels.
Guest: Joaquín de Santos Barbosa, Haute 51 Co-op, Marolles
Please contact Aashna Singh (aashna.singh@cltb.be) with any questions!