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4. An initial research trip to the Pacific Islands changed the course of the production team. “We really spent time with people, sat in villages with the elders, children and academics and also went sailing,” said the producer Osnat Shurer shared with Canada tribute magazine in 2017. “We came back with such a deep appreciation for the culture, for the history, for the beauty of the people and for the rhythms and harmonies. So we made the decision together back then that we really wanted to celebrate the culture; to highlight its beauty, its subtlety, its wonder, its history.

She was particularly touched by an elder in Mo’oera, “who said to us, ‘For years we have been swallowed up by your culture. Can you be swallowed up by us for once?’” she revealed. “We took this very seriously.”

Among the lessons that shaped the eventual story were: “That nature, especially the sea, is alive and sentient, and that the sea connects us all,” Shurer explained. “That you have to know your mountain, that you have to know everything that came before you to know where you stand. That you can find your way through a relationship with nature. These are profound and incredible things to learn,” and there are so many cultures with beautiful messages that have yet to be celebrated by all of us. This makes me very excited.