Regina Lepping

A mountainous expanse of the Solomon Islands, known as Sky Aelans, hides in the clouds. Here, there is a chorus of animals, every tree has a story and every drop of water carries a memory. But despite a 2018 pledge to protect mountain regions above 400 meters, this land is being threatened and the Indigenous communities who live in these mountain forests are the last protectors of these high sacred places. They are not simply seeking to save themselves and the land they love, but the creatures who inhabit this pristine island in the clouds.

In the late 1800s, two Solomon Islander siblings, Kiko (16) and Rosa (24), were kidnapped from their Pacific island home and forced to work on a sugar cane plantation in Queensland. In a world where exploitation of Pacific Islanders for cheap labour is legislated and conditions for islanders are akin to slavery, Rosa struggles to keep an eye on her spirited young brother as he journeys into adulthood.

A golden object mystifies a young man living in a traditional Solomon Islands village. He dreams of going to the city and wakes up in a nightmare that changes his life forever.

Dan, is on the wrong path, drinking, quitting school and fighting with his father. One night this path takes him somewhere he has not been before - a wild garden with a wind chime. He meets Eno, a young boy, who behaves strangely, and annoys him. But somehow Dan keeps coming back, and finally realizes why. Shot in the aftermath of the April 2014 floods in Honiara, this story of loss and resilience reminds us that what is broken can still sing.