TRUTH
OR AND DARE

From the outset of his career, through assignments in Syria, Tunisia and Egypt, Romanian born photographer Mugur Vărzariu understood the importance of his trade, and made the decision that shaped the future of his photography. “I could either follow everyone else or follow my conscience,” he explains. “I felt the impact of my pictures on one hand, and the suffering of the people I was photographing  on the other. So I had to find another way to operate.” 

Consciously choosing not to join photojournalists jumping from one story to the next, he sought out stories that remained untold and delved deeper into his subjects than the superficial contact the industry normally allows. Deciding instead to tell the stories of those left behind, the unrepresented ones existing forgotten, ignored on the edges of our societies. Roma communities, prostitution, human trafficking, abandoned children, the elderly, obesity, Holocaust survivors and post communist era social issues have all been explored in Vărzariu’s work. 

He juggles corporate assignments and magazine shoots, with work on humanitarian issues. “When I work I am constantly aware of the economic pressures on me as a family man,” he explains, “and I refuse to waste the time and suffering of my subjects by not being prepared. Working with those principles in my mind means I never, ever squander an opportunity, I must get it right, for their sake and for mine.”

Jánosi Matilda, Tilly Janosi on her stage name, was born in Transylvania, Cechești/Csekefalva, in a family of gardeners. She was ten years old, when she started dreaming about becoming a fashion designer. She moved to Hungary in 2006, where in 2009 she founded her own fashion brand, called TildArt Ökodivat. From there she moved to London in 2012, where she arrived without any English knowledge and with only 10 pounds. She drove rickshaws for two years on the streets of London, which was quite a challenge, but her perseverance was efficient: in 2014 she opened her own fashion workshop, the TildArt. Since then she developed this to an eco luxury brand, that she was able to present internationally too.

A couple of years ago she became fascinated by costume designing and producing, and she started to work in the magical theater neighborhood, at West End. Her primary motivation is to sneak sustainability into the cinematic and theatrical world. Meanwhile, last year the TildArt brand has grown up, and an era has ended, and at the same time a new brand was born: the Tilly Janosi London. It is a combination of fashion and costumes in the name of sustainability. The new brand was presented at the Kálnoky castle, at the Beyond the Forest fashion show.

Csipán Kristóf Csaba is 12 years old, and he’s been homeschooled since four years. When he was only 9 years old, he left the institutionalized education system, because – along with their parents – he felt that he’s losing himself, his personality and courage. Since then he has the possibility to choose what he wants to learn, what he’s truly interested in. He can make choices that will determine his future, and the right circumstances for that are created by his parents. Thanks to these circumstances, he could start his Facebook-page about book recommendations, KriStory, where Kristóf promotes his hobby: reading. He writes short reviews about books that others should read too in his opinion. „Personally I can feel the benefits of reading, and I would like others to experience this sensation too. I am sure that the world will be a better place if it’s inhabited by people who read” – Kristóf says.

Blaskó Nikolett  is one of the best known businesswomen in the communications industry from Hungary, and according to Forbes, she is one of the most influential women in the country. She is the president of the Association of Hungarian Communication Agencies, and member of the board at the Hungarian Business Leaders Forum and the National Association of Managers. She started her own business, named ACG in 2004, that today is one of the most successful advertising agencies.

Regarding social responsibility she is very active, and she considers that the values, based on which an organization functions, are the basics of success. Through her agency and personally too she supports many humanitarian organizations, and she is the committee member of UNICEF Hungary.

She is committed to promoting the emergence of women in business, and she is a devoted mentor. Also, she supports contemporary design and fashion, and helps young and talented creators and stylists with all kinds of instruments. She is married, has two daughters, and as a hobby, she likes to ride horses.

Székely Csaba is a writer, playwright, translator from Târgu Mureș/Marosvásárhely. Theatre critic Sándor L. István wrote about him: “Nowadays it’s unlikely that you’ll find a more successful and a more powerful Hungarian playwright than Székely Csaba. His theater premieres follow one another (abroad, too), and we receive news regularly about his artistic successes. But his works of art are valuable not only theatrically, but also from a literary perspective. We are talking about an author who uses a crafted, diverse, enjoyable language, who also has a deep human knowledge.”

His first play, “Do you like bananas, comrades?” received the award for best drama from BBC in 2009, and later the award of The Writers Guild of Great Britain. His best-known work, the Mine Trilogy speaks about the difficulties of Hungarian villages in Transylvania with a lot of humor and bitter irony. The parts of the trilogy were and are played on more than 15 stages.

He also works as a screenwriter, he was one of the writers for the third season of HBO-series “Terápia”.

Lucian Mîndruță is a journalist, blogger, media trainer and radio host. His current positions include writing for his blog, and his very active social media page while also hosting a call-in daily radio show.

He began his career at SOTI, an independent television station, and continued with Tele7 and ProTV. He was editorial director for Ziarul Financiar and wrote a weekly column for Dilema. He anchored news for Antena1, worked as head of marketing for Mediafax Group and produced TV shows for quite a few television stations.

Lucian is a fan of free speech with a conscience. He thinks that the media should facilitate the free flow of ideas in a society, while also being concerned with fact checking and the spread of fake news. He also believes that the media should aim to create more cohesive societies, while also cultivating diversity of opinions and respect for each participant in the debate. He believes in citizen media – and he sees it as both competition and inspiration for veteran journalists like him. He’s also an avid road cyclist – clocking around 4k kilometers every year.

Keszei Anna Luca is from Budapest, and although she still isn’t 12 years old, she has an activity so diverse that even an adult could envy her. She’s in 5th grade at the Gárdonyi Géza Elementary School from Újbuda, and her activity includes swimming, playing the piano, religious education, and she’s also a member of the Szent Bernát Scout Team. She was a student for seven years at the Mu contemporary dance theater, and has participated at fine arts workshops since kindergarten. Recently she tried wall climbing, that was a real challenge for her – but she loves challenges. And since September she also goes to English courses.

In her free time she reads, goes on trips, and concerts. Her favorite hobby is cycling, that’s been her passion for two and a half years, since she joined the Budapest Bike Maffia as a volunteer. Every Tuesday and Thursday they make sandwiches that they transport with bikes to homeless people and those in need. ”It doesn’t matter if it rains or snows, if it’s hot or cold, we need to go, because people are waiting for us, and they’re counting on us” – Luca says.

When she grows up, she wants to be an actress – but many adventures are ahead of her until then.

Bara Ágnes left behind a truly vibrant life, when in December 2010 traveled to Thailand to find the clear source for practicing meditation that she started a few years back. She arrived in Bangkok without any plans, and a couple of days later her dream came true. She lived in the jungle, at a small Buddhist temple for nearly three years – where the first true inner journey of her life began. This was followed by the world of zen temples in South Korea, and Taiwan was the final destination from where she returned home from Asia.

“There I faced many of my fears – in a seemingly motionless, peaceful world. I experienced freedom – in a culture full of rules” – she says. She needed more courage to return to Southern culture, than to leave for the East. But since then she integrated her experience in her everyday life. She lives a simple, quiet life, and helps people to face their fears and difficulties according to her best knowledge.

Personal trainer Góg Anikó, the trainer of IWI International Fitness School. Regarding her studies in Hungarian and international institutes: Technogym Master Trainer, Polar Level III trainer, pre&postnatal instructor, functional trainer, ACE Health Coach. Former triathlon competitive athlete, mother of two little girls – and some people just call her “Krézi”.

Although she completed her studies in very different fields, and in her work she uses various sport methods, she doesn’t consider herself a polyhistor and doesn’t think she knows everything. But the most important conclusion that she could draw from all this experience is the value-generating power of sport. The impact of sport on the quality of our lives, its mechanism for personal development, and its role regarding our internal balance. Her goal is to help as many people as possible to find their own relationship with sport and with its advantages. 

Varga Csaba was born in Bihor/Bihar county, Beiuș/Belényes, at the foot of the Bihor Mountains. He grew up in Oradea/Nagyvárad, and he graduated from the Technical University of Cluj Napoca. Since then he has worked as an architect in Oradea/Nagyvárad. He was 13-14 years old, when he started to get familiar with the mountains. During a summer vacation in high school he decided to climb the highest peak of the Făgăraș Mountains, and this activity instantly became his passion. First he climbed the highest peaks of Transylvania, followed by the High Tatras, the Pyrenees and the Alps.

He started to plan a high mountain expedition inspired by the ambition of Erőss Zsolt. He managed to climb his first above 8000 meter peak in 2013, the highest point of Karakoram, Gasherbrum II.

In eight years he climbed five above 8000m peaks – without supplemental oxygen and load bearers. Thanks to this, he is the most successful Hungarian high mountain climber that lives today. He thinks that during these expeditions the biggest challenge is the altitude of the mountain, and the overcoming of the difficulties and circumstances related to this (like oxygen deficient environment, extreme weather conditions, terrain that tests physical strength).

“On paper” Gundel Takács Gábor is a TV Journalist, but he also has a considerable working history in radio and in written journalism. “But we are closest to the truth, if I summarize all this and say: I am a storyteller” – is what he’s telling about himself. He thinks that every sports broadcasting, TV quiz, discussion is basically the telling of a story. For this, one needs a big dose of curiosity regarding the world and the people living in it. And it’s necessary for them to speak bravely about what they notice and consider important. 

“Yes, these days from time to time bravery is needed. Not only because some people might not like our opinion, but because many times we are afraid to face ourselves. But you can be brave, straightforward, curious – all of this doesn’t matter without credibility. »Truth and Dare« is our topic. This is enough for us to see that it’s no small task.”