Think Freedom- Freedom To Carry the Torch
Meet Sebastian Burduja
©Freedom To Carry the Torch
Think Freedom: Freedom to Carry the Torch, Sebastian
“The most important lesson that America has taught me is to have courage. It was my choice and not just my choice, my family’s choice, to come back. I am more free than not making the choice that corresponds to this sense of duty, to this responsibility to give back.”
After spending 12 years in the US and attending prestigious universities (Harvard and Stanford), Sebastian feels that it is time to return to his home country, Romania, where corruption and authoritarian tendencies drive people out to the streets to protest. "I felt that my impact could be much higher by coming back.", shared Sebastian.
Following the advice of his dying grandfather “In life you do what you must, not what you can”, Sebastian leaves the successful career in the USA to come back to Romania and establish a new political party called "Pact for Romania".
In loving memory of Joann Ioana Maria Burduja.
“If you don’t create a society where corruption is punished, you can’t call it a free society. That’s not freedom.”
Think Freedom
Nowadays, liberal values are in danger globally. The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom’s project “Think Freedom” highlights the life stories of six inspiring liberal-minded individuals, one of whom is Sebastian. The characters of the “Think Freedom” documentary film series embody the core liberal principles of freedom, choice and responsibility. The overarching theme is their self-determination to pursue freedom by overcoming challenges in the shrinking spaces of their democracies. The six documentaries address the fundamental questions these individuals face every day at a crossroad in their lives such as “To speak or to stay silent?”, “To stay or to go?”, “To stay yourself or to conform?”.
“Think Freedom” is a cooperative project by the Regional Office for East and Southeast Europe of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (“FNF ESEE”) and Tanuki Films. “Think Freedom” was conceived by Dr Rainer Adam, Regional Director of FNF ESEE, and directed by David Djambazov and Anna Stoeva of Tanuki Films.
Think Freedom
Watch all episodes of Think Freedom here: