It’s no secret the impact climate change is having on our beloved Pacific nations with rising sea levels, and while there is a lot of talanoa globally, what are we really doing about it?
A new documentary from Tikilounge Productions presents, ‘The Forgotten Pacific’. The documentary gives an insight from the perspectives of the micronesian and polynesian communities.
Produced and directed by Elizabeth Koroivulaono, the story centres on Fiji, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Samoa, where indigenous knowledge and modern strategies meet in the fight to adapt, rebuild, and save their islands from the climate crisis.
Elizabeth’s journey to create The Forgotten Pacific began nearly a decade ago.
“When I started developing it, the first idea came to me back in 2013, 2014,”.
She says that at the heart of the documentary was a desire to encapsulate the Pacific’s beauty as a “time capsule” for future generations.
Her capabilities as a writer are professional, but her motivation is deeply personal.
“I have nieces and nephews and I wanted to give them a visual representation of how powerful and beautiful the Pacific was, and is,” she says.
Pacific climate advocate Suluafi Brianna Fruean, fronts the doco and has been at the forefront of the global climate conversation for the Pacific for more than 15 years.
The film also provides personal stories and experiences told by Pacific leaders and their communities about their own countries’ challenges.
Despite the adversity, Koroivulaono emphasised the importance of not only addressing the challenges but also to showcase the strong solutions emerging from the island nations.
“It comes from our faith, it comes from our culture, it comes from our ancestors,” she says.
“We know this is bad, but what can we do? We don’t hang on spilled milk. We fight”
Koroivulano describes the travelling schedule as a journey of exhaustion and reverence.
“We spent about five days on the ground, 5 to 6 days, and our long distance (almost two weeks) was when we went to the Marshall Islands” .
The reach and impact of The Forgotten Pacific has already exceeded the directors expectations. She credits much of its success to a deep sense of purpose, divine encounters but also having a creative team made up of 90% indigenous women.
“It’s so different when you work with Indigenous women. One of the things that I’ve seen continuously is like I’ve never had to explain a cultural decision” she says.
“It was just an understanding without me having to stand or justify it. And that to me felt so good”
The Forgotten Pacific is now available on TheCoconetTV
