Solomon Islands Filmmaker's Award-Winning Sepik Documentary Claims Another Major Festival Honour

A powerful Melanesian story about protecting land, culture and community continues to make waves on the international stage, with Solomon Islands filmmaker Matasila Freshwater adding another major accolade to an already award-winning documentary.

Just weeks after taking home the prestigious Sustainable Future Award at the Sydney Film Festival, Sukundimi Walks Before Me has now been awarded Best New Zealand Director at the 2026 Doc Edge Festival in Auckland.

Directed by Matasila Freshwater and Lachlan McLeod, the documentary earned praise from the Doc Edge jury, who said the filmmakers' directorial choices "all speak to the powerful directorial vision behind this film."

The latest honour adds to the film's growing list of achievements and further cements Freshwater as one of the Pacific's leading documentary storytellers.

For Freshwater, whose acclaimed short film HIAMA earned international recognition, the success is about far more than awards. It's another milestone for Pacific stories being told by Pacific people, on their own terms.

The documentary follows communities living along Papua New Guinea's Sepik River, one of the largest and most culturally significant waterways in the Pacific. Rather than telling the story through the lens of outside observers, Freshwater places audiences inside the community itself, with the story unfolding through the perspective of Sukundimi, a river spirit woven into local knowledge and belief systems.

Producer Kerry Warkia says that Indigenous perspective is what makes the film stand apart.

"So many documentaries about our region have been told by people from outside the Pacific looking in," says Warkia.

"Too often those stories have been incomplete, problematic or even harmful. This film is important because it's anchored from the inside, from a Melanesian view, and by Melanesians, and that makes all the difference."

For Freshwater, screening the film internationally has also created opportunities to challenge audiences who may know little about the Pacific histories that connect Australia, Aotearoa and Melanesia.

"Australia and Aotearoa have a long and complicated history with the Pacific, but many people remain unaware of those connections," she says.

"Showing this film in Sydney allowed audiences to sit alongside the community and experience the story from within, rather than looking at it from a distance."

The international recognition is also shining a spotlight on the real-world struggle at the heart of the documentary.

Communities along the Sepik River have spent years resisting plans for a major mine at the river's headwaters, fearing the impact it could have on the environment, cultural practices and future generations.

Freshwater says the recognition belongs just as much to the community as it does to the filmmakers.

"Awards help bring attention to the cause, but winning the Sustainable Future Award is a significant achievement for the community itself," she says.

"Their fight to stop this mine is still ongoing. They've worked incredibly hard for years to slow its progress, but they need resources, support and the ability to continue adapting their strategy for the challenges ahead."

She says there is still much more work to be done.

"There's still so much work to do, and the donations from people who can, and are able to give, will really help the mission to protect the Sepik."

The latest Doc Edge recognition is especially significant. The festival is an Academy Awards® qualifying festival for feature and short documentaries, with its top New Zealand and international winners becoming eligible for consideration for the 2027 Academy Awards®.

Alongside its Best New Zealand Director win, Sukundimi Walks Before Me was also nominated for Best New Zealand Feature, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound and the Turangawaewae | Where We Stand Award.

As the documentary continues its festival run, it is carrying the voices of Sepik communities onto the world stage while showcasing the power of Indigenous storytelling from within the Pacific.

Those wishing to support the communities featured in the film can donate to the campaign to protect the Sepik River at savethesepik.org/donate.