Latvia, probably the greenest country in the world

Ever since we started to descend from the clouds, aboard the Czech Airline Airbus to reach Riga Airport, we noticed the great „sea” of green forests that make Latvia a powerful source of oxygen. We didn’t really know what to expect, we only knew what we wanted to catch in the documentary: that is, a very trendy way of living that one day will take on the planet: green lifestyle, eco living, living without harming the environment and the others around you.

During the 3 days of shooting we met some very interesting people leading non-conventional lives and sharing the same ideas that one can lead his/her life in harmony with nature and everyone else, by choosing to empower nature and protect its resources.

Day 1: we traveled to Liepaja, a city next to the Baltic Sea, where inhabitants are strong activits for dwelling a green life (they invented  the so-called „freekbykes” which you see them drive around town like everyday cars: they  drive to work, to school and around the harbour, they make contests and they made these bykes like a sort of „emblemma” of the town). Afterwards, we talked to youngsters and volunteers from  Radi Vidi Pats, a local NGO with environmental activities, we learned about their challenges and their accomplishments so far and we got a very clear statement of what „green living”is. The day ended with a vey nice interview with the manager of a „charity shop”, where we learned how valuable the input of volunteer work is.

 On the second day of shooting we were introduced to Elina, the person responsible for the development of „charity shop” chain in Riga and Liepaja. We discussed about the idea of social entrepreneurship and also about the importance of the legislation support. The next thing we did was talk to the representative of an evironmental NGO called Homo Ecos, where we learned about different projects to promote Latvia as becoming „the greenest country in the world”.

On the third day of shooting we had the chance to interview Latvia’s ecological hero, nothing like Batman or Zorro, but a lot like Pigman, the „pig-man” who one day changed his way and became environmentally protective and taught the others to be the same. Next, we had the chance to meet the manager of a „plant-exchange” store, where people come and donate plants or they take in exchange some other plant. „Flowers make people happy”, the shop manager says. The end of the day was quite nice because we stumbled into a nice art gallery in a mall which exhibited statues made of recycled iron objects (screw drivers, byke chains etc) and we also came across the first shop and showroom selling furniture made from cardboard and recycled wood (Foldlife).

All in all, we managed to shoot not only testimonials about politically correct „green life style” but also we managed to live the life, the „eco” style (especially by tasting slow food). It was an interesting trip we took and we met wonderful people with beautiful ideas of how to protect the environment. Thank you, Latvian team, for your efforts to host us and be our guide in Riga!

Getting to know sex work issues in Netherlands

Brilliant days in Netherlands. This trip has been started in Latvia and through Belgium it reached finish in Arnhem in the Netherlands where we met our great hosting team.
Day after we started shooting. We had a chance to speak with people who is working with health care of sex workers. Spending day in Amsterdam we digged more into a topic. It helped us a lot in other days when we had a chance to interview a human right activist and lawyer, volunteer, and the people who is working with protection fo sex workers in Netherlands.

As the interviews were in different cities we had some time to see the country and weather was nice, so it made good in mood and nice atmosphere in our working team. In the last, already in the way back unexpectedly turned out that we`re going to have another interview with one charismatic lady who is working in sex industry. This interview imposed mellow point of our journey because we got to know a lot of usefull information for us…

Way back again was through Belgium. And we came back to Latvia in the good mood and the feeling of well done job.
Special thanks to Linda for arranging all the interviews and Robert for hosting us. See you guys soon!

Last stop: Altamura

Link is ready to host the last part of the project in Altamura. From the 26th to the 30th of May, the French team will work together with Italian team on the last chapter of our common European documentary om citizenship. After that, all the team members from Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Netherlands and Italy will work on the final editing.

Immigration in ‘la douce France’

Migration takes many different forms and the French team introduced us (the Dutch team) to some practical examples. In Rennes, capital city of the province Brittany in France, a squatting house serves as a shelter for 60-70 persons from different origins. Volunteers provide them with support and information. While interviewing the director of the involved organization and a volunteer, some mattresses were brought and a woman was washing her clothes.

Marie-Léonie, a Congolese French woman who is retired, told us about her experiences in France where she arrived in 1977 with her children. The dramatic changes in Zaire (as the Democratic Republic of Congo -DRC- was called at that time) forced her to stay in France. It took more than ten years before she obtained the French nationality. She experienced quite some difficulties, which strengthened her conviction to help other newcomers from DRC and neighboring countries.

In Saint Brieuc a representative of the Conseil Général explained us about their activities to support migrants. And at a market in Rennes, we heard interesting opinions of persons who represent the melting-pot of current France: according to themselves, they are ‘citizens du monde’. Unfortunately this positive approach is sometimes clouded by opinions of other citizens who reduce them to stereotypes about muslims.

Along with these rich encounters the French team introduced us to the local food and drinks: moules et frites, beaucoup des entrecotes, crêpes et galettes – cidre et lait (oh no, that last one -milk- is rather typically Dutch).

Debriefing after shooting

During 3 days, both Romanian and Bulgarian teams made a wonderful journey to discover young people and their elder siblings envolved in keeping their traditions alive, in managing to pass them on to the next generations in different forms. We saw pitoresque places where tradition was unaltered and we saw places where traditional elements were combined with modern elements as a sign of evolution.

Our approach was to observe, take notes and compare… rarely did we express any opinion about it.. it was like smelling the flowers instead of picking them up. Local people were interested in having them recorded on camera, because they want to show the world how beautiful their traditions are. Next to that, there is the young generation which understands how important it is to be keeping our traditions alive mainly because this is who we are, it is part of our individuality as a nation.

The young generation use traditional elements in their clothing, singing or dancing as a compound of „ethno” fashion. They enjoy hand-made jewlery and clothes and they are very proud to be wearing them. We interviewed a lot of people and the common question was „why / for what purpose do you keep these traditions alive”? The answer is always linked to the feeling of pride to be Romanian and a feeling of belonging to a certain group.

All in all, it seemed that 3 days were not sufficient to travel and meet all the people that we planned to meet, but anyway we felt very happy to be able to show you a small part of a large culture, the Romanian one.

EU-Relay continues with Video Action 3… Now we are headed to get to know another type of culture, where a new trend is arising to serve  as a model for the whole world as a way to protect our future generations: “green” lifestyle in Latvia.

Suceava…..

During our tour of the region of Suceava we managed to meet and shoot the locals and their customs and traditions as part of their lives. Thanks to the team of  Romania – Alina ,Nicoleta,Irina and Ionut.Thanks for their work thanks for their support.

During the first day we shot the local artisans involved in the development of traditional costumes belts and carpets.

 

 

 

People are preparing for Easter and we were able to shoot how they paint the traditional Easter eggs.

 

 

 

 

During the second day we had a tour of Suceava, where we visited the shopping center and gallery and hall performances, where we shot the young volunteers engaged in traditional dance and pantomime.

 

 

 

 

We made contact with students from the University of Suceava.Naturally we talked to them about volunteering,
what their stance and getting involved in such projects.

 

Resources for citizenship

Please have a look at the new section of the website “Resources” where you can find useful materials about citizenship both produced by the project Eu-Relay and by other organizations or institutions. Thank you to our readers for suggesting other useful tools they know by sending an e.mail to eu.relay@europe.com

Last-minute prep for Video Action 2 in Suceava

During 31-st of March and 4-th of April, the city of Suceava will be hosting the next step in the Eu-Relay project, what we call “video action” 2. Last- minute preparations are being made, reviewing the checklist, reservations and confirm with the partners. Phiuu!!  as shooting days approach, we can hardly wait to see our friends again and feel very excited about how we are going to work together as a team the next week and shoot some great interviews.

The topic of the documentary in Romania will deal with Romanian tradition and European Citizenship in the context of The European Year of Voluntarism. Our Bulgarian friends will meet authentic kraftsmen and will have the chance to watch them work on wonderful traditional objects and pass on the to next generation their skills and talent. Moreover, we will try to create an event and re-enact traditional customs from the rural area and bring them in the urban area (in the city pub), where there will be singing and dancing (of course, the traditional way). The youngsters will have the opportunity to express their views and opinions about traditional ways and lifestyle in an open session of debates at the University, and we will be there to catch it all on camera.

The shooting days will add up to visiting all the important touristic sites in our area and of course, to the memorable moments we will spend together while relaxing and having fun: going out in local pubs or maybe a small rock concert.

Impressions

Several days after the meeting of the two teams from Bulgaria and Italy, wе can for sure say that the working process was fruitful and full of mood. During the three days we covered more than 300 kilometers.We have made the desired interviews with the skills and the precisions of all of the participants. Now we expect to see the final result, hopefully it will be successful, but giving the professional work of both of the teams in the organizing – recording, creativity and fun during and after the workflow, there is no doubt. We have to say thank you to our new friends for the willingness and the courage to stand in front of the camera.Some of them had their first interviews. Now the first step is made ​​and its footprint is clear. The next step we will make in Romania in order the project to start moving ahead to the ultimate goal – namely our documentary video.

Thak you L.I.N.K. !!!

Thank you I.I.C. !!!

Hello AREAS  !!!

3 steps of a travel toward inner common sense of identity.

After a travel inland Bulgaria started in Sofia 3 days ago, we did more than 230 kilometers in the west of the country.

3 days, 3 steps, 3 cities,  several shots and a lot of interviews with the help of the well organized support of our local partner rеpresented by Magdalena, Atanas, Kostadinka and Elena.

From Sofia, the capital city, to Blagoevgrad, the university town, to Razlogog where  we are now.

We are working on the project.

Soon we’ll share our outcomes.