A film that asks how a global corporation can implicate us all.
Romanian activist Gabi Paun and his organization, Agent Green, investigate the illegal logging of Romania's old-growth forests — and IKEA's role in their destruction. After threats on his life, Paun is forced into hiding.
He later teams up with Swedish activist Lina Burnelius. Along the way, the film traces Romania's history under communism and its entry into the European Union, and the work that earned Paun the UN's Champion of the Earth award.
Visit the film’s website ↗Festival selections
Development support
Stills
Stills by Winslow Crane-Murdoch
I am personally connected to this story as a consumer of IKEA products: they have a good reputation for making affordable furniture. But, I didn’t know the truth about IKEA until I learned of the destruction they were causing in my friend’s homelands.
I met producer, Audrey Popa, in my graduate program, where my PhD research focuses on memory, corporate abuse, and deforestation in Canada. When Audrey told me about the environmental crisis unfolding in Romania, I felt a responsibility to make this film together.
It is my goal as director to see Wild East spark tangible change. We are working with a critical, untold story that has the potential for measurable impact on global audiences. IKEA is a corporation that prizes its public image. A tried and true grassroots tactic to address corporate abuse is to affect a corporation’s social credibility. This film will do just that.
Maia Wikler — Director
