29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (07.11-23.11.2025)
Born of a collaboration between Belgium, Estonia, Italy, and Taiwan, this cinematic documentary is both a portrait of Indonesia’s Sumba and a mirror to humanity’s darkest hierarchies. On this remote island, time seems suspended between myth and reality. Here, slavery is not a relic of the past but a living tradition, bound to ancestral rites and passed through generations. Through the gaze of local activist Jeremy Kewuan, we encounter a world where the sudden disappearance of an eight-year-old enslaved girl casts a haunting shadow. Her fate seems inseparable from the island’s most terrifying belief: that slaves must follow their masters into death, buried alive beside them. The camera moves through vast skies, sacred rituals, and intimate silences, contrasting the island’s natural beauty with the cruelty concealed within its customs. As Jeremy risks his life to give voice to the silenced, his journey confronts us with an urgent question: what does freedom cost when tradition resists?
In cinema 1/16/2026
Slave Island
Slave Island
MS12
Genre
Documentary
Director
Jimmy Hendrickx, Jeremy Kewuan
Run time
1h 33min
Genre
Documentary
Director
Jimmy Hendrickx, Jeremy Kewuan
Run time
1h 33min
29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (07.11-23.11.2025)
Born of a collaboration between Belgium, Estonia, Italy, and Taiwan, this cinematic documentary is both a portrait of Indonesia’s Sumba and a mirror to humanity’s darkest hierarchies. On this remote island, time seems suspended between myth and reality. Here, slavery is not a relic of the past but a living tradition, bound to ancestral rites and passed through generations. Through the gaze of local activist Jeremy Kewuan, we encounter a world where the sudden disappearance of an eight-year-old enslaved girl casts a haunting shadow. Her fate seems inseparable from the island’s most terrifying belief: that slaves must follow their masters into death, buried alive beside them. The camera moves through vast skies, sacred rituals, and intimate silences, contrasting the island’s natural beauty with the cruelty concealed within its customs. As Jeremy risks his life to give voice to the silenced, his journey confronts us with an urgent question: what does freedom cost when tradition resists?
Born of a collaboration between Belgium, Estonia, Italy, and Taiwan, this cinematic documentary is both a portrait of Indonesia’s Sumba and a mirror to humanity’s darkest hierarchies. On this remote island, time seems suspended between myth and reality. Here, slavery is not a relic of the past but a living tradition, bound to ancestral rites and passed through generations. Through the gaze of local activist Jeremy Kewuan, we encounter a world where the sudden disappearance of an eight-year-old enslaved girl casts a haunting shadow. Her fate seems inseparable from the island’s most terrifying belief: that slaves must follow their masters into death, buried alive beside them. The camera moves through vast skies, sacred rituals, and intimate silences, contrasting the island’s natural beauty with the cruelty concealed within its customs. As Jeremy risks his life to give voice to the silenced, his journey confronts us with an urgent question: what does freedom cost when tradition resists?
Info
Rating
Under 12 Not Recommended
Production year
2025
Global distributor
Periscoop Film
Local distributor
Periscoop Film
In cinema
1/16/2026