Filming Begins in the Remote Forests of Siberut

In the fall of  2024, I traveled to the Mentawai Islands for the first time to begin production on Echoes of Siberut: The Mentawaian Legacy. The journey led him to central Siberut—a remote, forested island located roughly 150 kilometers off the coast of Sumatra.

After a two-day trip by ferry, motorized canoe, and foot, I  was introduced to a family of shamans through Toine IJsseldijk, a Dutch-born guide who was adopted by the family over 30 years ago. With support from cultural consultant Ed Half Mentawai  and a group of young Mentawai collaborators, the shoot launched immediately under demanding conditions.

At one point, after unintentionally breaking a local taboo, my main camera failed. With no signal and no access to repair services, it took a jungle signal hack, a relay call to the U.S., and an improvised fix—guided remotely by SONY technicians in New Jersey—to bring the shoot back online.

We kept going.

This is the kind of filmmaking that tests everything—trust, endurance, and the delicate line between observation and immersion.

For more on the project:
→ In Production
→ Treatment – Mentawai Legacy