CRUX origin story

This is Hanna's, one of CRUX's co-founders, personal story on how CRUX came to be. She shared this story as a Climate Ambassador for the European Union.

In Europe, climate change can feel like something that’s far away. Something abstract. A looming threat of the future, perhaps. Because in Europe, the news articles of people passing away due to heat waves or floods are still that. News. This is not the case for the vast majority of the world. 

At twenty years old, I moved abroad from Finland to one of the most international universities there is. Even though I had been in climate activism for many years now, ranging from demonstrations on the streets to speaking at UN negotiations, the effects of climate change still seemed distant, like something I had studied rather than witnessed. My new friends from all across the world changed that.

I quickly learned many heartbreaking stories from many classmates, ranging from cyclones in Zimbabwe to landslides in Kyrgyzstan, from water scarcity in India to food insecurity in Argentina. I knew I had to try to capture the impact those stories had on me and share that with other people privileged enough not to have experienced such tragedies firsthand. So, that’s what we did.

Together with my classmates, we created a film called Down to Earth - a short documentary film that comprises personal stories from fifteen countries across the world. While the initial concept had less to do with climate justice and more with capturing the many ways climate change manifests, the disparities between the stories were soon evident. We had my German friend talking about the media attention and rebuilding following the 2021 floods, next to my Nigerian friend describing the internationally ignored death of a thousand people in recent floods, and my Zimbabwean friend noting the inability to rebuild the homes lost to a cyclone.

This made the film feel more important than ever. With countless nights of post-production, we finished the documentary with all volunteer efforts, dedicated to making it matter. With many more sleepless nights, we began reaching out to schools, organizing screenings, and signing up the documentary to film festivals in every corner of the Earth. Today, the movie has been featured at the European Parliament in Brussels and recognized at several film festivals across continents, with many more screenings planned in Europe and beyond.

Nevertheless, we were left with the lingering question of what now. After pouring our hearts and souls into relentless work for six months, we were left with a film about the destruction and desperation young people across the world face. This could not be the ending sentiment to our story.

That’s how CRUX came to be. Starting a production company was never on my bingo card, as I could have never even dreamed of doing what we do today. Nevertheless, we decided to keep creating films and movements, to keep pushing for the voices and narratives that matter the most. Having fallen in love with the process, we are eager to keep capturing stories and changing the world with them.