Screening at Kai cinema: "Slave island"
Wednesday 21. January at 18:00 - 19:33
Kai Art Center, Tallinn
Documentary
Duation: 1h 33min
**Last screening of "Slave island" at Kai cinema! **
The powerful documentary, filmed over several years, reveals the harsh reality of modern slavery on the island of Sumba in Indonesia.
While investigating a shocking case of human trafficking, local activist Jeremy Kewuan, who is also one of the film’s directors, meets a shaman who passionately defends his ancestors’ right to slavery. At the center of the conflict is an 8-year-old girl who, like other people belonging to the island’s Ata class, was born into slavery. Traditionally, the Ata people are destined to serve their Maramba masters, even following them to the grave.
Jeremy’s struggle with deep-rooted power structures is accompanied by visually captivating shots of the island’s wild beauty and stark confrontations. The girl’s release comes as a hard-fought victory in a battle that is far from over, as hundreds of people still live in lifelong slavery under the rule of the island’s queen.
There is an introduction before the screening by Margus Kalam, who has written a travel book about Sumba Island and its culture, "My Asian Islands" and has taken three groups to the island with GoTravel, most recently in November last year.
17:30 Introduction by Margus Kalam (in estonian)
18:00 screening
19:30 Margus Kalam answers questions from the audience and we discuss what we saw in the film
"Slave island" was created in collaboration with Estonian filmmakers. One of the film’s screenwriters is Dr. Terje Toomistu – a documentarian, anthropologist and researcher at the Department of Ethnology at the University of Tartu. The film was co-produced by producer-director Marianna Kaat (Baltic Film Production) with the film’s composer beeing Timo Steiner and the sound designer beeing Israel Bañuelos from Estonia.
Country: Belgium, Estonia, Taiwan, Italy 2025
Director: Jimmy Hendrickx, Jeremy Kewuan
Launguage: Indonesian
Subtitles: Estonian, English
In addition, we invite everyone to visit the exhibition, On Fragile Grounds. Sirje Runge and Light, at the Kai Art Center on the same day. Sirje Runge is one of the central figures of Estonian postwar art. The exhibition traces Runge’s lifelong exploration of light, color, and perception, from her geometric experiments of the 1970s to recent large-scale projects, and reconstructs her pioneering teaching practice.
On Wednesdays, there is a discount for everyone at both the cinema and the exhibition. The gallery closes at 6 pm, so if you purchase a combo ticket, please visit the exhibition before the cinema screening.
Kai Art Center • Peetri tänav 12, 10415 Tallinn, Harju maakond, Estonia
