L'ODYSSÉE EUROPÉENNE

INTRODUCTION

Richard, Frank, Stéphane and Hervé are going to cross Europe by bike. Equipped with electric assistance and solar panels, each bike allows them to be completely autonomous and travel up to 200 kilometers per day. Their objective: to join Moldova and the humanitarian association “Vent d’Est”.

« European Odyssey » is a film retracing the journey of four cyclists crossing Europe on solar bikes to provide humanitarian aid to disadvantaged populations in the East threatened by war.

The main objective of this film is to highlight the actions of the local association « Vent d’Est » and thus promote all humanitarian associations and the people in need to whom they help.

To make the film, we are planning a total budget of €20,000 (see below for the detailed budget) AND each additional euro that we manage to obtain will be donated directly to Vent d’Est and its support projects !

Thank you in advance for participating in this project 🫶

However, unfortunately, if the budget is not reached we will not be able to produce this documentary. The runners and Vent d’Est will not benefit from this media support or even financial funds.

Adventure website 👉 https://european-odyssey.org

Solar bike rally in the Alps. Erimages 2022 ©

L’ODYSSÉE EUROPÉENNE

Direct neighbor of Ukraine and victim of the collateral damage of the war, Moldova is a poor country in Eastern Europe which is home to human misery that goes unnoticed. On site, the Franco-Moldovan association Vent d’Est has welcomed for more than 20 years, around a hundred children of all ages, from this poverty and, today, from the war in Ukraine. In order to support Vent d’Est, Richard Lebrun, a Belgian citizen residing in France, has a crazy idea :

Take a round-trip humanitarian trip to Moldova aboard your solar bike.

Very quickly, he was joined by three friends Frank, Hervé and Stéphane who share the same human and ecological values ​​and wish to provide additional support to this project.

Solar bike rally in the Alps. Erimages 2022 ©

L’ASSOCIATION « VENT D’EST »

In the 90s, Thierry Ernst traveled to Eastern Europe with the aim of participating in and organizing humanitarian actions. It is there that he meets Tatiana, a Moldovan.

Together, they founded the “Vent d’Est” association in 2002.

Originally located in the Moldovan capital then transferred to the small village of Horodiște, Vent d’Est welcomes people affected by poverty. Horodiște is close to its capital, Chisinau, and like it, is not spared from poverty. Over time, Thierry and Tatiana increased their humanitarian actions: delivery of clothes, toys, equipment, school supplies, medical aid.

Twenty years later, Russian armies invaded the neighboring lands of Ukraine. Moldova, sharing more than 900 kilometers of border with Ukraine, then received waves of refugees in a few weeks.

“Our main actions can be summed up by general support for refugee families in Moldova, psychological support for women, food aid for refugees in Moldova, support for the dispensary for the elderly” – Vent d’Est

Supply of basic necessities for a home for the elderly in Mikolaiv (Ukraine). Vent d’Est 2024 ©

Richard met Pierre, a friend of Thierry and Tatiana, who lives in France and has been coordinating their actions so far on a voluntary basis. Pierre is essential support for the adventure and allows the team to know the actions and needs of the association.

Since the beginning of its creation, the association has created, organized and implemented several projects:

  • Chisinau orphanage: change of 80 beds and renovation of toilets
  • Collection and donation of clothes to schoolchildren and the population of the village of Horodiste
  • Purchase of the abandoned Horodiste school and creation of a jam factory
  • Creation of a vacation spot for disadvantaged children in the region
  • Launch of a solidarity cheese factory
  • Opening of a solidarity store
  • Opening of the first rural lodge in the village
  • Organization of solidarity holidays for Belgian and French volunteers to work on construction sites and offer activities to disadvantaged children, in particular teaching them French.
  • Implementation of an eco-pension project
  • Creation of a solidarity syrup and jam factory
  • Annual sponsorship of around fifteen children at a time for both their studies and medical expenses.
BEFORE Rehabilitation of the old village school as an eco-boarding facility to accommodate children. Vent d’Est 2024 ©
AFTER Rehabilitation of the old village school as an eco-boarding facility to accommodate children. Vent d’Est 2024 ©

Since February 2022 and the start of the war in Ukraine, Moldova (the poorest country in Europe) has welcomed many refugees. Between February and May 2022, 450,000 refugees from Ukraine – mainly women, children and the elderly – crossed into Moldova (which has 2.6 million inhabitants, or 1 refugee for every 5 inhabitants).

As of November 15, 2022, there are still nearly 100,000 in Moldova according to the High Commission for Refugees.

A heavy burden for a country that was already poor before the conflict. Since the start of the conflict, Vent d’Est has focused on projects that have become priorities :

In Moldova :

  • Reception of refugees at the Palanca border, transport to Chișinău, rental of accommodation.
  • Search for accommodation abroad and financing of transport to host countries.
  • Aid to refugee centers, support for the centers in Chișinău, Orhei, Vatici and Carpineni for an average of around 600 people overall.
  • Supply of milk powder for infants, diapers, feminine hygiene, hygiene products, also food and more particularly fresh food.
  • Psychological support for refugees

In Ukraine : 

  • Support for the Ivanovka region, located 70 kilometers east of Odessa
  • Sending through the Palanca border of basic necessities, also hygiene products, foodstuffs for infants and food.
  • Help from a village under Russian occupation since June. For security reasons it is not possible to give his name or the methods used to help them, just that he is located in the Mariopol region.
  • Support for a center for the elderly in the town of Mikolaev, still victims of Russian bombing. 165 elderly people are accommodated, including 48 displaced from war zones.
  • In the Ivanovka region, Vent d’Est organizes food aid, buys generators, organizes and finances activities for children left behind.

They receive almost no help and particularly appreciate the support that can be given to them.

The needs are enormous, the inhabitants are suffering from hunger. The volunteers on site do so at great risk. Vent d’Est is the only organization to successfully intervene in this area.

THE ROUTE

The route is intended to be free and, to minimize the risk of accidents and allow us to fully immerse ourselves in the landscapes and local cultures, we will favor secondary roads and cycle paths, sometimes even trails, paths or tracks. On the way out, we cross Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and finally Moldova, before returning to France via Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy.

Départure : around may 1st

We plan 40 stages of between 60 and 160 km per day, with an average of 125 km per day. If the sun is out, everything is “easier”. There is no journey without a change in altitude, which contributes to the beauty of the journey.

5,000 km of journey for 39,000m of D+, the ratio is rather good, the difference in altitude is identical to that of the trip to Slovenia (made in 2022) whose distance was half as long (2,500 km). The two strong points obviously concern the Alps, which are unmissable.

Solar bike rally in the Alps. Erimages 2022 ©

The highlights : 

  • the Alps on the way there and back
  • the Poľana mountains in Slovakia.
  • the Carpathians in Romania
  • Transylvania in Romania
  • the Javorniki mountain range in Slovenia
Solar bike rally in the Alps. Erimages 2022 ©

THE SOLAR BIKE

It is an electrically assisted bicycle whose energy is provided by a solar panel. This technology makes it a completely autonomous means of travel. The diversity of bicycles reflects the variety of uses, needs and desires of their owners.

Further informations : https://velo-solaire.com/

DIRECTION

The narration

To tell his ecological, sporting, traveling and humanitarian story, Richard contacts old friends he met during cycling events. Together, we decide to create this documentary film, to retrace this extraordinarily human story. This documentary film invites us to follow Richard, Frank, Hervé and Stéphane from France to the borders of Eastern Europe with only their solar bike as their mount. An incredible journey tackling themes that are as important as they are current. His goal? Generate interest, support and highlight Vent d’Est’s actions. The documentary « European Odyssey » opens with the departure of the cyclists and their meticulous preparation.

Unexpected settings and scenes of life will punctuate this pedal-driven journey. From experience, our four runners already know that they will encounter technical problems or make course errors. That’s also the journey. Finally, “European Odyssey” will take us with it to the borders of Europe, to the village of Horodiște. A moving meeting between French and Moldovans, between cyclists and volunteers, between men and women. Here, we question our relationship to others and to a world different from ours. There is no specific language for being a woman or a man in this world. What matters is shared humanity, this ability to remain united and united in difficulties. With the roads of France as the horizon, the documentary ends. Vent d’Est’s task has only just begun.

Solar bike rally in the Alps. 22 Secondes Production 2022 ©

From macro to micro

In order to transcribe this journey on a large scale, we favor wide angles and (very) wide shots. We also use drone aerial shots. Thanks to this, we focus on an entire decor in the image. Richard and his friends live this adventure together but in communion with nature. The different countries crossed have their share of particular atmospheres and we also want to transcribe moments of life, specific to an international trip, such as exchanges with the locals in an unknown language. We will entrust the translation of exchanges into a foreign language to a professional interpreter. Likewise, the documentary will be fully subtitled in English. The film crew follows the runners but does not interfere in their journey. He remains in total autonomy. Interventions on screen by the protagonists take place during appropriate moments, pauses or exchanges with other people. Here, our runners are only men facing this gigantic nature.

The closer we get to Moldova, the tighter our plans are, closer to man, closer to the soul. To accentuate this difference in atmosphere, we enlarge the focal length used during filming. Thanks to this, we focus on a subject in the image. No more room or time for contemplation, it is a human story in which we participate. Now we no longer travel across Europe, we experience Moldovan poverty in its rawest reality. We capture this glimmer in the children’s eyes. Each moment spent in Horodiște is unique in the exchange and interactions. Here, our runners are essential men in supporting people in need.

Solar bike rally in the Alps. 22 Secondes Production 2022 ©

From bright to dull

The bright and utopian colors of our rich and peaceful Western Europe are gradually fading. When we cross the Alps, we discover green meadows, sifted and comforting cottages. Once we arrive at the goal, we have ocher, dark, sometimes dull colors. Real colors that do not disguise the current situation.

Relative poverty

The more deprived we are, the more united we are. To go against the structure of the imagery, the story emphasizes the hope and courage of the people. We experience, for a moment, their difficulties as well as this union in which everyone finds themselves. Unlike our European trip where our runners found themselves quite alone on the road, in total introversion.

The sound

Like our shots, the sound ambiance of the film evolves towards an adaptation closer and closer to reality. Our trip to Europe begins in a calm, green and singing atmosphere. We accentuate the epic aspect of this journey. Here music is predominant and adorns the entire journey. The further east we sail, the harsher and more dissonant the sound becomes. The music gradually fades and gives way to the real sound. We experience the cold and metallic sounds heard there. This immerses us in this new reality. We fundamentally give more space to image than to sound in Moldova. Stories and human emotions carry us away. During our journey, the moments of silence rather evoke a deserved respite after the effort, a pleasant break in this epic. In Moldova, silence is treated differently. It is heavier and full of emotions. He lets us hear the silence of real life.

We give priority to the words of our protagonists. The interviews (with the runners, with local people) constitute the common thread of the film, like a travel diary told after the return, reliving the most significant moments. “European Odyssey” is, however, not a journey film, nor a vacation film. It is above all a human film which concentrates the majority of the stories around people, their lives, their experiences, their joys and their moments of doubt. Richard, Frank, Hervé, Stéphane, Tatiana, Thierry, Pierre, our Moldovan friends have a prominent place in this story.

Documentary chapter divisions

  • Opening credits and characters introduction – 7 minutes
  • Travel across Europe – 12 minutes
  • Approach to Eastern countries – 10 minutes
  • Moldova – 20 minutes
  • Way back and ending credits – 5 minutes

Opening and ending credits

The opening credits open with archive footage of the war in Russia, the conflict in Ukraine and the exoduses taking place throughout the country. Then more recent images evoking current events in Ukraine and Moldova. Richard, Frank, Hervé and Stéphane, determined, prepare and undertake their journey.

The end credits end the documentary with images of exchanges with Moldovans and Ukrainians. Rather “backstage” shots, which offer a happy and more relaxed ending after poignant moments. We also show the final moments of Richard’s return journey and his arrival home. Life resumes for everyone, but everyone emerges from this unforgettable experience.

INTENTION

The war in Ukraine

In 2022, like many, we were shocked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A new war, open, violent and on European lands. After years and a never-ending conflict, our discussions with Richard, Frank, Hervé, Stéphane and Pierre brought back this information which had disappeared from our screens. This film reflects for us our modest contribution to help these innocent and helpless people. Try to make their situation, their journey known in order to awaken the gifts of the most altruistic, and thank the action of women and men like « Vent d’Est » who dedicate their lives to that of others. We anticipate a significant portion of the film’s revenues will be donated to « Vent d’Est ». So that they can continue their actions, continue to bring joy to people who no longer believe in tomorrow.

Solar bike and us

We have a long love affair with solar bikes in France, from our meeting with the founder of the « Sun Trip », a solar bike rally, to the depths of Morocco. These epics redefine the word “journey” and we have captured their essence after years of filming and meeting these cyclists of the Sun. Stops in small, lost villages to meet locals, sumptuous landscapes inaccessible to cars… Traveling by bike, and what’s more by a solar bike, allows for long, beautiful journeys, strewn with pitfalls but unforgettable.

BUDGET

The overall budget necessary for the production of this documentary is €20,000. This budget is distributed as follows :

  • 25% for the filming and production of all images of the film🎥
  • 25% for editing and post-production including storage, image and sound processing and renderings 🎥
  • 10% for the logistical costs of travel, catering and accommodation for the film production teams🍔
  • 15% for your donations-related counterparties🎁
  • 10% Kickstarter platform fees 💸
  • 15% for taxes💸

If we reach our budget of €20,000, any additional euro will be donated directly to Vent d’Est and its support projects !

SOCIALS

Follow us on the networks to find out more about EUROPEAN ODYSSEY and the progress of the project 🫶

🌍 Adventure website 👉 https://european-odyssey.org/

🩷 Instagram 👉 https://www.instagram.com/european__odyssey/

💙 Facebook 👉 https://www.facebook.com/theeuropeanodyssey

🩵 LinkedIn 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/company/105715605/

Solar bike rally in the Alps. Erimages 2022 ©