Realm of the Four Kings

Waking up in the Realm of the Four Kings

What It’s About

«Ultramarine», that’s what famed underwater fotographer David Doubilet called Raja Ampat in one word in his National Geographic article. Raja Ampat is the world’s most biodiverse marine ecosystem! However, illegal fishery, corruption, and destructive logging are constant threats to the livelihood of the people. Our film shows the endeavour of the local population to manage the natural resources of their home sustainably and independently with soft tourism.

The People of Raja Ampat

«Ultramarine». Best learn what this means by watching a video made in Raja Ampat by Halil.

Story

Raja Ampat is a remote island archipelago of an area comparable to that of Switzerland in the middle of the coral triangle in Indonesia. Surveys of WWF and other NGO’s showed that Raja Ampat harbors the world’s highest marine biodiversity! On top of that, the pristine rain forests with their unique flora are also home to a variety of species of birds of paradise.

The Nature in Raja Ampat

Since about 10 years, the population is growing due to immigration and the tourism sector is heavily expanding. Birth of the tourism sector is an opportunity and threat at the same time. While it creates income, outside influences also force traumatic change onto the moral outlook of the local population.

Families in Raja Ampat have begun to use the tourism boom for their own advantage: they provide small-scale traditional housing for individual travellers, so-called Homestays. Homestay owners have formed the Homestay-Associaiton: «We the people of Raja Ampat will have become wise. The homestay businesses that we are pioneering will have given us enough to live on. Our people will be healrthy and intelligent, with schools and hospitals in our villages. Our children, our families and other community member will live in support and care of each other, in peace, order and unity. Our forests will be protected so that there is no uncontrolled logging or poaching of wildlife. We will catch fish only sustainably. There will be no environmental destruction and our environment will be free from waste. Our environment is our identity as the people of Raja Ampat and we are proud to be from Raka Ampat. Future generations will enjoy a high qulaity of life, forever.«

Unique Landscapes under Threat

This film shows the endeavour of the local population of Raja Ampat to manage the rich resources of their home self-determined and sustainably. We follow individual persons and their families on a quest for a future worth living.

What We need Your Help for

We still need to make small investments in equipment, particularly boxes for transport and a camera stabilization system (gimbal). The bulk of our budget, however, goes into transport logistics on site. In this environment of salt water and dust we need not only a clean basis to work with the susceptible equipment, but also a solution that can take us to all the shooting locations which will lead us across the open ocean at times. Sending the air fright over to Indonesia is also a major matter of expense, even though we use small hybrid cameras. Costs for post-production can be kept low because we have work-stations and know-how to perform most of the post-production ourselves. That also allows us to realize our vision of this film from start to end.

Collaborators

Wenn du mehr über die Filmemacher hinter dem Projekt, sowie über den Inhalt und die Planung erfahren möchtest, dann schaue dir unser kurzes Produktions-Dossier an.

Learn More

To find out more look at our production short.