In the Wake of Giants

We explore the growing tension between conservation, tourism, cultural survival and the people most directly connected to the ocean.
Coastal communities are increasingly shaped by outside ideas about how nature should be protected. Conservation and eco-tourism are often presented as solutions, but the reality is rarely straightforward. While marine ecosystems are under growing pressure from overfishing, pollution, and climate change, smaller coastal and Indigenous communities are often the ones asked to change the way they live.
The film responds to the need for more honest and nuanced conversations around ocean protection, particularly in places where livelihood, ancestry, spirituality, identity and survival remain deeply tied to the sea.
By following two conservationists through Western Australia and Indonesia, the film explores what happens when different ideas of protection collide, and asks who benefits, who sacrifices, and what may be lost in the process.

We hope In the Wake of Giants encourages more honest conversations around ocean protection, tourism, and the communities most directly connected to the sea.
The film invites audiences to sit with the tensions and contradictions surrounding conservation in a rapidly changing world. Through the experiences of communities across Western Australia and Indonesia, the film explores how protection, livelihood, culture, spirituality, and survival can become deeply intertwined, and what can happen when outside ideas of conservation collide with local ways of life.
Our impact vision is to encourage a more thoughtful and inclusive approach to ocean conservation, particularly in places where people and nature have lived alongside one another for generations. We hope the film contributes to conversations around ethical tourism, community involvement, and the long-term consequences, both intended and unintended, of how we choose to protect the natural world

We hope In the Wake of Giants encourages audiences to think more deeply about their relationship with the ocean and the places they travel through.
The film explores the tensions between conservation, tourism, cultural survival, and the communities most directly connected to the sea. Through the experiences of people across Western Australia and Indonesia, it examines how environmental protection, livelihood, identity, spirituality, and modernisation can become deeply intertwined.
We hope audiences leave with a greater awareness of the complexity surrounding ocean conservation, particularly in places where outside ideas of protection can have lasting social and cultural consequences. The film aims to encourage more thoughtful conversations around ethical tourism, community involvement, and what meaningful conservation can look like in different parts of the world.
Above all, we hope the film encourages people to engage with the natural world with greater care, curiosity and respect

We have completed development filming across Western Australia and principal filming in Indonesia, including in culturally and logistically sensitive communities where access was built over time through local relationships, trust, and ongoing collaboration. The film is being made in official co-production with Sambal Films, led by co-producer Honny Palayukan, whose longstanding relationships and cultural understanding have been central to the project, alongside support from the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Sydney. Working alongside local guides, conservation groups, tourism operators, government contacts, and community members, we were welcomed into spaces and conversations not often accessible to outside filmmakers. Throughout production, we have approached the film with a strong focus on listening, cultural sensitivity, and allowing people to speak from their own lived experience.

The film encourages audiences to think more deeply about their relationship with the ocean, the places they travel through, and the communities who live alongside them.
At a time when many people are increasingly disconnected from the natural world, In the Wake of Giants invites viewers to see the ocean as something they are already connected to and responsible for. Through the experiences of communities across Western Australia and Indonesia, the film encourages more thoughtful conversations around tourism, conservation, cultural preservation, and what it truly means to protect what we love.
For audiences, this may mean approaching travel and wildlife encounters with greater awareness and respect. For policymakers and the conservation sector, it may mean placing greater value on local knowledge, long-term relationships, and the people most directly connected to these environments.