The highly anticipated World Premiere of the documentary Small Island, Big Song took place at Sakurazaka Theater in the evening of April 19. This beautiful documentary was conceived by producer BaoBao Chen and director Tim Cole, who were on hand for the screening. It’s based on the idea that the indigenous aboriginal people of Taiwan were seafaring, and they spread out all through Austronesian. The clearest evidence of this is the relationships between the indigenous people’s languages in many areas, and their beautiful music.

Chen and Cole traveled all around the region from Taiwan to Madagascar, New Zealand to Easter Island and Bali to Papua New Guinea. The met, communed with, and recorded traditional musicians in these countries, playing in their natural locales. The result is breathtaking. Not only do we have shots of spectacular nature and picturesque areas but we also experience their indigenous music which is stunningly beautiful and mesmerizing.

The documentary is so expertly put together and the music so perfectly recorded and mixed it’s shocking to learn the whole thing as produced on an extreme shoestring budget with one consumer grade 4k video camera. The theme of the work is that in the same way these indigenous people discover and know they are connected to other indigenous people in the region we are all connected to each other. As one wise woman states, “Some say the Ocean separates us, we say the Ocean connects us.”

The beautiful cinematography and incredible music would be enough, but director/sound mixer Cole has gone one step further. He mixes the performances from different musicians in different locales into one coherent, jaw-dropping piece that is likely the first time these traditional instruments have been mixed together. It is a coup de grace that elevates the piece from lovely to brilliant.

After the screening Cole said, ‘We wanted to appreciate how beautiful our planet is and appreciate beautiful music from around it.” Chen added, “four years ago when we had this idea we didn’t have much money or resources or some of the skills too. But we believe everyone can make a change in any subject you’re passionate about.”

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