Do you remember Béla, for whom we raised money so that he can buy a truck to fight river pollution in Transcarpathia, Ukraine?
The latest film created by Naturefilm.hu (Természetfilm.hu) tells the story of the Ukrainian eco-activist Béla Francz and the River Saver Truck.
In Ukraine, Transcarpathia, organized waste management is at an early stage, and in many settlements it does not even exist.
The population is helpless, they have nowhere to put their household waste.
This is how the picturesque mountain rivers of Transcarpathia become a dumping ground, and why so much waste is drifting down on the Tisza river to the EU.
Béla Francz, the lone eco-hero of Yasinya (Kőrösmező), is determined to change things for the better. To fight the waste flood at the source of the Tisza, he is about to set up a waste management and recycling facility.
We met Béla by pure chance. On the 1st of February 2020, on the occasion of the Tisza Memorial Day (remembering the catastrophic great cyanide flood of 2000), we were invited to the American Corner in Uzhhorod to screen our conservation documentary ‘Message in a Bottle’.
The screening turned into a Facebook event, the event into a correspondence, and the correspondence into a personal meeting. The whole conversation between Béla and our ‘Plastic Prof’ Gergely Hankó lasted about 10 minutes.
But this conversation was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
We were deeply touched by Béla Francz's dedication and the Spartan conditions amongst which he worked. His truck (an old Soviet made UAZ) was in very bad condition. We felt that Béla is in need of a much better truck and decided to help. Still under the impression of our first encounter, we made a short fundraising video. It was shared on the Adjukössze.hu website (a Hungarian crowdsourcing platform like Kickstarter), where donors raised the money necessary to buy a used truck. They did so in the matter of a few short days exceeding the required amount by 3 times.
Once the 10000 USD was raised, Béla was able to buy the IVECO named River Saver Truck, which he has been using to collect and transport waste every day ever since.
Although many people tried to discourage him from the beginning, Béla did not give up.
After two and a half years, it is safe to say that he has set a chain of events into motion in Transcarpathia.
In our joint film, we capture the time since then, Béla's struggles and successes.
Our film is about a true folk tale hero, who is always ready for action and even in the most difficult times never gives up on his dreams, finds his allies and finds a solution! A man whose actions and attitude lead us back to the appreciation and respect of nature.
Premier: 9 March 2022 17:00!
Results of the last period