World Bank - Community justice & governance in Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands is made up of almost 1,000 islands spread over thousands of kilometres of ocean. Provision of services is challenging at best and police presence is limited. Since 2014, the Community Governance and Grievance Management Program has backed locally-selected villagers to act as community officers, resolving disputes and acting as links to provincial and central governments.

The World Bank, one of the key supporters of the project, asked me to produce a number of videos to tell the story of the community officers - and help secure continued funding for the project.

This was a dream job. The Solomons is gorgeous - remote, wild, friendly and beautiful - and I felt privileged to spend almost a fortnight there. Working with a great team, I slept in a cave, ate mounds of lobster, encountered a monstrous coconut crab, drank cava and met many wonderful people.

The World Bank needed a 10-minute overview video and four 3-minute clips telling individual stories. That required a lot of material. The interviews would form the backbone of the clips but we also needed a huge amount of B-roll footage. 

The drone was great for providing a geographical perspective - especially given how isolation is such a defining factor in the Solomons. But for days, wind keep the drone grounded. At times rain put a stop to shooting altogether. Therefore, when conditions permitted, it was imperative to squeeze the most out of every minute of shooting time.

We agreed the stories would be better told in the words of the community officers, local World Bank staff, officials and community members. That meant no voice-over. While we had a wealth of interviews, shaping them to create coherent, flowing narratives was a challenge - but a deeply rewarding one.