The Sepik is one of the world’s great cultural and ecological arteries — long revered, and frequently targeted. While its art and stories have travelled the world, Sepik people have too often been spoken about rather than centred as authors of their own narratives. This film works against that history. It is grounded in community trust, cultural authority, and a commitment to storytelling that is relational rather than extractive.

With its world premiere at the prestigious International Oceanian Documentary Film Festival (FIFO) in Tahiti in February 2026, Sukundimi Walks Before Me sits within a growing Pacific and Indigenous cinematic movement, one that prioritises sovereignty of story, community-led process, and the right to speak for land and future on one’s own terms.

Sukundimi Walks Before Me is produced by Brown Sugar Apple Grunt and Walking Fish Productions , and presented by Screen Australia in association with Pacific Islanders in Communication, Doc Society Climate Story Fund, The Post Lounge and VicScreen, with support from Shark Island Foundation, Three Springs Foundation, RNZ, and Random Good.

Directors: Matasila Freshwater and Lachlan Mcleod

Writers: Matasila Freshwater and Nick Fenton

Producers: David Elliot-Jones, Maria Tanner, Kerry Warkia, Emmanuel Peni & Lachlan Mcleod

Executive Producers: Kiel McNaughton and Chris Kamen

Cinematographers: Benjamin Bryan and Fraser Johnston

Editor: Nick Fenton