Cristian-Mihai Dide
Being held back by corrupt local governments, Cristian felt forced to give up his own company and become a full-time activist.
Being more 'radical', it's not uncommon to see him throwing (fake) blood on government buildings, organising protests and #rezist'ing whereever possible.
In day-to-day life, he's seen more in court than his own apartment. Having to deal with a ton of fines given to him because he was protesting, a fundamental right in any member state of the EU. "You're gladly invited to come to the court and film this sharade", he has told us with a smirk.
Now he organises events, such as flash mobs and smaller scale protests, to instigate change from the inside of these corrupt and failed institutions.
Florin Badita
Voted most influential person of 2018 by Euronews, Florin Badita quickly made a name for himself as a prominent character in the Romanian activist scene. But how did this fire awake in him?
It started with a fire in Bucharest nightclub 'Collectiv'. Fireworks inside caused a fire which resulted in the death of 64 people, including Florin's friend. "The government knew about this and did nothing to prevent it", Florin said. This ignited him to become more active and start his movement, 'Corruption Kills', which uses protests and other forms of social pressure to keep check on the government.
He has since started Casa Activistului ( The Activist House), a project aiming to provide education about activism and civil rights. Think of classes like 'hacktivism', how to know your rights during a protest and freedom of information classes.
More busy with Casa Activistului, Florin focuses more on the educational side and the systematic side of activism, trying not only to change the country, but also the mindset of people involved.
Eric & Jim
Romania is a country close to our hearts. Both having been there multiple times, we developed a love for the people, culture and customs. Sadly, corruption is also a part of their history and present.
One of the things that also sparks our interest, is that it's a part of the European Union, the same system we reside in as Dutch people.
Through #Rezist we want to show what activism can do in a corrupt country like Romania. A culture of activism already existed for a while, but has sparked immensely the past few years, when enough was enough. We saw a lot of people, but not a lot of faces. Cristian-Mihai and Florin give us the faces we want to show. It's personal after all.
