WILD, WILD EAST
Romania contains 70% of Europe’s last primary forests, but IKEA, the largest consumer of wood in the world, is logging these forests close to extinction. Wild, Wild East follows activist Gabi Paun, who risks his life to stop them. This film will challenge audiences to reflect on how a global corporation can implicate us all.
After the fall of communism in Romania came the promise of freedom. However, Romania’s entrance into the European Union ignited an exponential rise in capitalism and resource extraction. IKEA became the largest private landowner in Romania. IKEA uses contractors known as the “timber mafia,” who are reportedly responsible for killing six Romanian forest guards and over 600 incidents of violence toward those who have tried to stop illegal logging. Wild, Wild East tells the story of this conflict and the history that led to it, through the eyes of those on the frontlines. Our key character is activist Gabi Paun, founder of Agent Green, a Romanian ENGO, whose investigations linked illegally logged timber directly to IKEA. Paun’s calls for justice have not gone unnoticed. He lives in hiding abroad after surviving assassination attempts by the mafia and receiving a tip that they have a bounty on his head. We follow Paun and his team as they expose this environmental crisis, from high-risk undercover forest investigations to lawsuits and public actions. During communism, the forests were publicly owned - nature was the only place Paun, and many Romanians felt free. Paun has granted our team full access to follow his fight, and we are the only ones invited to film at his safe house. The intensity of his work will be balanced by the reprieve and loneliness he experiences living alone in hiding, where he dances to Depeche Mode records and cares for his sole companion, Silva, an elderly wolf-dog he found in the forest. Gabi carries a clear message: convenience kills.
CREDITS
Director: Maia Wikler
Producer: Cecilia Brown
Writer: Maia Wikler, Cecilia Brown
Co-Producer: Audrey Popa, Maia Wikler