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Radical’ derives, just like the word ‘radish’, from ‘coming from the root’. This film is about friendship which is healthy from the root.

Chihiro  is a starry-eyed idealist from Amsterdam with a problem: after years of studying world problems she discovers that ‘knowing better’ is a lonely world. She asks herself: how can I do better? And how can I do this together with others? She calls it her quest for radical friendship. Radical Friends is an adventure to connect with our inner and external environment.

Chihiro can’t help herself trying to help others. She learns about Bolivian Indians, who see Pachamama (Mother Earth) as a living creature which must be cared for: rivers and mountains also have the right to a good and healthy life. Chihiro is inspired by this recognition of the environment being as equally alive as humans, and travels to Bolivia. Here, indigenous people, students, farmers and the president himself confront her with their struggles for ‘Climate Justice’, which aims to protect both oppressed green and humans.

Chihiro also meets her Bolivian family for the first time. She recognizes something of her own mission in the music her father and her uncle make: their music is a way of connecting hearts as well.

Encouraged by her Bolivian experiences, Chihiro takes her newfound knowledge back to Holland. She meets students and activists. She asks her father to play with her at a political event for radical friendship. Will she succeed to unite her idealism, her family and the Dutch public?

Radical Friends tackles a world problem on a personal level: this is an ‘eco-film’ made from the perspective of the heart.

Radical Friends is currently filming in Bolivia.

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