The Pacific Climate Warriors, born out of the low-lying Pacific Islands, are an indigenous and youth lead movement who now have been on the front lines of climate change for decades -- their rally cry is “we are not drowning, we are fighting.”
In their own words "Matagi Mālohi tells the story of our journey to uplift our people and shape a narrative that paints us not as victims of the climate crisis but as the leaders, the healers, the nurturers, the artists, the gardeners, the growers, the seafarers and the navigators we are."
"We need to be the strong winds that have carried our ancestors across the seas. We need to be the strong winds pushing our leaders forward as they come up against the might of these big bullying nations. We need to be the strong winds, that Matagi Mālohi, that bring the change our people need to see.
["Matagi Mālohi" comes from
Tokelauan and translates to "Strong Winds"]
Strong Winds is a collaboration between US based filmmakers/brothers Forest Woodward and Canyon Woodward and director/editor Aidan Haley. Together we have spent the last decade working on issues relating to climate and social justice, and are deeply grateful for the chance to share this latest collaboration, an homage to the front line communities of the Pacific Islands and beyond.
