Evgeny Afineevsky

Hi, my name is Evgeny Afineevsky, and I'm the director and producer of the movie Francesco. Basically, I’m a filmmaker and a storyteller. My last project being able to combine on its own almost every crisis of today's world. Crises... some of them people are familiar, and some of them humanity is kind of neglecting and some of them, we don't know because they are way, way, way far from us. Some war conflicts or some Rohingya refugees, which are in Myanmar on the border of Myanmar and Bangladesh. They are quite far from us, from the American continent or European parts, or even from Latin America. 

But at the ends of the day, we are all living in this place called home, called Mother Earth, called Planet. And what we’re not realizing is that we are one big family, unfortunately divided by many reasons and created all this chaos.

Through my last three years journey alongside Pope Francis I learned a lot, I witnessed a lot. 

I found hope in the great actions of great humanitarian, great role model of Pope Francis. I saw how he, by his humble gestures, not as just the head of the Catholic Church, but just as a human, try to help Rohingya refugees and Muslim refugees from Syria. I saw how he's fiercely fighting for the climate change and bring the science together with the faith to combat climate change. 

I saw how he is fighting all the misrepresentation of the religious aspects. Because in today's world, sometimes religious interpretation serves people in the wrong way. Many conflicts in our days are created by misrepresentation of the religion. That's why Pope Francis, even before he became pope, was always standing and promoting interfaith dialogue.

 But what is important that each and every person who is watching this, who is participating in the conference can wake up, open his eyes wide and start to learn what's happening around him? What wrong things we, as humanity, did, and what he as a human being can do right and good.

We may be having different religious beliefs or non-beliefs. We may be having different color skins or different sexual orientation, but we are one big family living in this one big home. 

And if today we will not stop destroying the walls of our home, if we will not stop destroying the roof and everything, we tomorrow can be on the street. And we will vanish as the human race.

 So I hope through the conference we will find the truth, through the conference we will learn about crisis and find the hope in the great actions of activists that are fighting for the climate change.

Activists who are fighting for the unity to unite all of us as human beings. 

And we will be able to create a new modern society looking towards the future, who care about the planet and care about being together as one united big family. 

Good luck in the conference, and I'm looking forward together with you to find the truth and to bring it to the wide audience of this world. Good luck. Thank you!