FILMMAKERS’ STATEMENT (Jennifer Redfearn & Tim Metzger)
Some of our defining experiences, professional aspirations, and artistic inspiration come from traveling, as we’ve both spent a significant amount of time working around the world. Sun Come Up combines our interest in human rights and our love of natural environments, unfamiliar cultures and the South Pacific region.

The film also demonstrates, we hope, the respect we have for indigenous cultures whose communities often reveal a deep connection to their ancestry, a rich tradition of storytelling, and a more gracious relationship with the environment.

Sun Come Up is a testament to the resilience of the Carteret Islanders and the perseverance of the human spirit. The islanders are losing their cultural ties and physical connection to the past. Yet in the face of adversity, they are forging ahead. This isn’t a familiar third world narrative about a downtrodden poor people. It’s a hopeful story about a community fighting hard to determine its own fate.

The title Sun Come Up (San Kamap) means “sunrise” in pidgin and reflects this sentiment – hope, possibility, and the start of a new day.