By Shebnem Niazi, YES 2013-2014, Bulgaria, hosted by World Link in Kalona, IA

“What is freedom? Are we born free or do we earn it? And if you deny freedom to the quiet ones, those who have no voice, can you be free yourself, or are you caged by your own lack of compassion?”

These are the powerful and thought-provoking opening lines of a powerful and thought-provoking movie.

On April 22 in BH Cultural Center in the city of Ruse, I, together with the help of my close friends, hosted a screening of Bold Native, an independent feature film by American director Denis Henry Hennelly that reflects a growing cultural debate about the use of animals for food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research. In addition to narrative storytelling, the film incorporates undercover footage from labs, farms, and real-life animal liberations for stunning realism. The movie is made on a shoestring budget by a crew of four people - a director, a cinematographer, and two producers - one camera, and a team of less than 50 actors, most of them real-life activists. While Bold Native is a film about a serious subject, it is also a celebration of life, so it has a sense of humor and playfulness that the people present at the screening did not expect. Documentaries are great and educational, but they can be heavy to watch. A fiction film allows you a different kind of access to the mainstream audience. Especially when enjoying a homemade vegan pizza.

After watching the film, the audience of 22 community members, many of them university students, engaged in a discussion of animal rights, effective activism, and the negative environmental, health, and economic effects of human use of animals in modern society. I was impressed with the impact of the event on participants. The movie provided a unique opportunity to bypass people’s defenses. It spoke to those who knew nothing about the subject as well as a core audience that knew everything about the subject but was interested in the details and conflicts. Since we are all culpable in animal exploitation, it can be hard for some people to open themselves to the message of animal rights. Bold Native presented important ideas and facts through fiction, which reached people’s hearts instead of their brains. They were open to learning more about the effects of eating meat. They asked hundreds of questions and some of them contacted me on Facebook days after the screening to ask for more information on making the transition to a plant-based diet. With a clever dialogue and well-researched facts, the screening of Bold Native challenged the viewers, vegan or non vegan, to re-think their values. It reminded all of us that we can only make the right choices when we are informed enough.