Solwata

Synopsis

Narrated by Mark Ruffalo, Solwata is a mixed reality installation exploring rising seas in the Solomon Islands due to climate change. Interacting with water and artifacts, audiences enter the vibrant world of the Solwata, or saltwater, people. Using 360° video, Gaussian splats, and 3D animations, participants join Martha, Francis, and Lawrence as they protect their homes and heritage amidst displacement and planned relocation to the mainland. Solwata transforms an abstract threat into a visceral experience of cultural resilience and the loss of home.

Statement

It is a privilege to have co-created Solwata with communities in the Solomon Islands who are at the frontline of the climate crisis. One moment from our trip stays with us – diving underwater to see the remains of the submerged island of Walande, which was once home to a thriving community, now entirely displaced due to rising sea levels. It was sobering, and struck us deeply: this could be all our futures. The ocean that’s consuming their world is the same ocean that connects us all. We created this mixed reality installation to collapse that distance. Through immersion and tactile materials, you inhabit their world, then return to ours – a visceral reminder that what feels distant is intimately ours too. It forces a reckoning: what is your position in this? What will you do when these changes arrive at your door? That’s the question we want audiences to sit with.

Videos

• ▶Solwata : Un documentaire immersif sur le changement climatiquePresentation · Human Rights Watch en français
• ▶Interview with co-producer Felix Gaedtke from the VR experience SOLWATAInterview · filmfestivals.com
• ▶Solwata : Coulisses du tournage (1)Making-of · Human Rights Watch en français

Credits

Director

Felix Gaedtke, Gayatri Parameswaran

Production

Human Rights Watch (Erica Bower, Christina Curtis, Sam Dubberley, Gabi Ivens, Mark Ruffalo, Myrto Tilianaki), Agog: The Immersive Media Institute (Amy Seidenwurm, Mary Matheson), NowHere Media (Felix Gaedtke, Gayatri Parameswaran, Olha Tsybulska, Julius Hackspiel), Regina Lepping

Running Time

25'

Language

English

Country

United States, Germany, Solomon Islands

Main Cast

Mark Ruffalo, Martha Suraau, Francis Siaumari, Lawrence Too’si

Screenplay

Gayatri Parameswaran

Editor

Christian Möller, Olha Tsybulska, Adrian Meye, Jan Burghardt

Music

Billy Mello

Sound

Billy Mello

Art directors

Ignacio Ferrando, Moritz Mayerhofer

Lead developers

Felix Lange, Henning Schild

Developer

Johannes Felix Lotze

Designers

Felix Gaedtke, Margarita Gehl, Johannes Lotze, Olha Tsybulska, Steve Gödickmeier, Alexander Schubert

Artist

Margarita Gehl

Technical team

Alarics Fugui