“Thank you for your indifference!”

By the beginning of the show, there were practically no free seats left in the Illusion Hall. Visitors were greeted by animators in costumes of pandas - the traditional symbol of WWF. A photo zone and a stand with an RT-zone RT were opened for viewers.

Already in the auditorium there was a press conference with the participation of film director Natalia Karachkova, RTD director Ekaterina Yakovleva, TV presenter Nikolai Drozdov, as well as the leadership of the Russian Wildlife Fund.

The organizations jointly developed the concept of the film and collaborated for a year on the filming of animals in Siberia and the Far East.

“We made a film about animals, but it turned out about people. Our heroes endure what we experienced with them on the set, our whole life! - told the audience the director of the film Natalia Karachkova. “For example, an ornithologist, one of the heroes of the film, suffered encephalitis three times, and on his feet!”

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“It turned out to be an interesting and inspiring film that, I hope, will inspire people to think and act,” said Victoria Elias, director of environmental programs at the World Wildlife Fund of Russia. “And I want to say a big thank you to RTD for this indifference!”

A film about the protection of animals was shot for the 25th anniversary of WWF in Russia.

Alexei Nikolov, Director General of RT Channel, noted that the day of the premiere of “Wild and Free”, December 10, coincided with another significant date - the RT channel turned 14 years old.

“It is a great luck, a great success that the foundation and I found each other,” admitted Alexei Lvovich.

“There will be more volunteers”

The documentary "Wild and Free" was filmed in Chukotka, in the Primorsky Territory and in the south of Siberia. The main characters were Tatyana Minenko from the Bear Patrol in the Chukchi village on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, ornithologist Igor Karyakin, restoring the population of Saker Falcons, and Pavel Fomenko, head of the rare species department of the Amur branch of WWF Russia, a specialist in wild cats.

In the film, all the characters use quite ordinary devices for tracking predators, such as GPS trackers and camera traps. Fund experts said that now they have started using artificial intelligence to count wild animals. For example, a smart program is now counting the number of saigas. Volunteers are provided with quadrocopters so that they do not risk coming close to bears or walruses.

“And on Novaya Zemlya, experts are now testing a device designed to scare away polar bears,” they added at a press conference. - As you know, the urgent problem: the bears go to villages, oil fields, landfills, dumps. People feed them, which is absolutely impossible! We are the same food for bears! "

The famous TV presenter Nikolai Drozdov shared his impressions of the work on “Wild and Free” with RT. It was he who voiced the material and studied the stories of all three heroes of the film in order to have time to tell about each of them. According to Nikolai Nikolayevich, “Wild and Free,” he voiced in just one day.

“The film left a great impression, because it is about volunteers! - said Nikolai Nikolaevich. - I am sure that there will be more and more such people every year. Our conscience towards animals is gradually waking up. ”

Nikolai Drozdov also congratulated the channel on his birthday.

“Touched to tears”

After the final credits, viewers were able to ask questions to the creators of "Wild and Free." With what it is better to start caring for the environment, how to behave when meeting with a polar bear, and even how to become a volunteer of the fund - almost the entire audience participated in the discussion.

“We now have about 30 thousand participants,” Victoria Elias, director of environmental programs at the World Wildlife Fund of Russia, answered a question from the audience. - Someone transfers money, someone becomes a volunteer. We are glad to all. "Engineers, PR specialists, artists, IT-specialists can all help in the common cause of protecting nature!"

After watching, viewers also shared their impressions of the show.

“I saw how enthusiastic people are in their work. We all know that they get practically nothing for their work, it's all enthusiasm. It makes it goosebumps. Such people should also be included in the Red Book. They rely on what we have so far, ”Tamara Pronina, a visitor to the premiere, is sure.

RTD documentaries have repeatedly become winners of Russian and international awards. In 2019, the film "We were taught by terrorists" about children in Syria became the silver medalist of the US International Film & Video Festival.

In 2018, the winner of the prestigious New York Festivals competition won the RTD film “Children of Syria. Brought up by the war ”, and the documentary film“ Castes. Love to the grave "and" Marine "received silver and bronze, respectively.

In 2017, the film “H2nOl” won the gold of the festival about the acute shortage of drinking water in India. In 2015, New York Festivals received silver tape "White Africa", and in 2014, the film "Blood Revenge" took the gold award.

In 2011, the film City of Little Angels won the silver television and web design award OMNI Intermedia Awards. In the same year, the documentary "Children of the Tundra" won the Russian Prize "Country".

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is one of the largest independent international environmental organizations, uniting about 5 million regular supporters and working in more than 100 countries.

The main goals of the fund are the conservation of biological diversity, the prevention of increasing degradation of the natural environment of the planet and the achievement of harmony between man and nature.

The first projects of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Russia appeared back in 1988, and in 1994 the Russian representative office of WWF was opened. In 2004, WWF-Russia became a Russian national organization. Over 25 years, the fund has implemented more than 1000 field projects in 47 regions of Russia.