Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2020 – Small Island Big Song
An oceanic songline across the Pacific & Indian oceans.
Interview with Director Tim Cole and Producer BaoBao Chen
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Small Island Big Song was produced by my partner the film’s producer (BaoBao Chen) and I (Tim Cole) to do something together to grow our relationship and to do what we could over our concerns of climate change. But we are not documentary filmmakers, ours is not a climate change documentary, I am a filmmaking music producer who has been working with first nation musicians of Oceania for the past three decades, so that’s where we began.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Our hope is that on leaving the cinema the audience feels respected by the filmmakers, culturally richer, enlightened with a place in their personal narrative for the nature and people of the Pacific & Indian oceans.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Our film shows musicians performing music on their homelands in nature sharing cultural lineages shaped over countless generations of living within and depending on that environment for their community’s survival. The film documents their personal relationship to their homelands expressed through the culture which defines it; so too all culture defines our relationship to our social and natural environment.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
We began our film purposely without a script but with a process; to invite musicians representing their island homelands to share a song that they were proud to represent their heritage and custodial land with, then to take us to a place of meaning for them in nature to film and to choose how to represent themselves. We then offered them other songs from this process to contribute to, through this collaborative process connections between the islands grew, and the film's voice was revealed.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
From the artists and communities, the response has been affirming, particularly that the film has no other languages apart from their own, no voice-overs or interviews but then that is also the criticism the film receives, particularly with the industry, having said that many industry people champion it’s POV as well. Many find it refreshing to have long sequences in nature, supported with music and lifestyle footage connected people to that environment.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We really hope to reach out to find like-minded people to share the film with; yes it’s different film experience, but many find it refreshing, inspiring and liberating particular during this time when so many of us are confined sharp urban spaces.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
We would love this film to foster deeper relationships to the natural world, in particular, the ocean regions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and those representing its voice.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
The Film Industries igniting question could be – Is our emphasis on conventional storytelling devices (Western/Colonial) a contributor to the existential threat of the global eco-system collapse which we are currently facing. Ie – is it ‘the medium not the message’ which is the problem?
The broader more general question could be – How does our own culture define our relationship to the natural world, and which aspects of that are failing us, in the context of the climate crisis?
Would you like to add anything else?
Thank you for hosting this website and offering us independent filmmakers spread across the planet (in our case central Taiwan) to connect and share our visions.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Over the course of meeting the artists on their islands, they expressed interest in meeting in-person to perform, so we are currently working on a theatrical, cinematic concert where theeight of the artists from the film will perform live with the film. A cinematic concert, for a tour we have booked across the US to 20 Universities for early next year 2021.
All the best, Palya Tim & BaoBao.
Interview: July 2020
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Small Island Big Song
An oceanic songline across the Pacific & Indian oceans.
Length: 1:20:21
Director: Tim Cole
Producer: BaoBao Chen
Writer: All the collaborating musicians wrote the film as they guided us into their homelands and shared music. There are too many to mention here.
About the writer, director and producer:
TIM COLE is an Australian creative who has been working on cross-cultural arts projects with music at the heart since producing Not Drowning Waving’s album and DVD ‘Tabaran’ in Papua New Guinea, a few decades back. Which led to a career of equal parts film & music, for artists & events including Archie Roach, The Australian Indigenous Music Awards, Proof & Bran Nue Dae (film soundtracks), Not Drowning Waving, My Friend the Chocolate Cake, The Sing Sing Concerts, Shellie Morris and the Borroloola Songwomen and Circus Oz with 8 years of international touring with seasons on Broadway NYC & West End London.
The film was written through a collaborative process, of artists representing their homelands across the Pacific & Indian Oceans sharing their cultural lineage through song.
BAOBAO CHEN is one of Taiwan’s most respected producers of cross-cultural film and music projects. As a vivid storyteller and fluent in English and Mandarin, she has been invited to present at TEDx, APAP - NYC, WOMEX, FestPac - Guam, Peace Boat - Japan, World Stage Design, Taipei Arts Festival - Taiwan, Green School - Bali, Stanford University, Boston University, University of Iowa City, and numerous film and music festivals. It was her skills in arts management and her love for nature that founded Small Island Big Song.
Looking for: distributors, journalists
Facebook: Small Island Big Song 小島大歌
Hashtags used: #SmallIslandBigSong
Website: www.smallislandbigsong.com
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Melbourne Documentary Film Festival - 30th June - 15 July - Online festival only screenable within Australia; Please contact Tim Cole for an online screener if you are interested in viewing for professional reasons.