Original subtitles

Paradise is something we're all searching for.

A state of mind of absolute perfection.

Whether it's white sand beaches...

...crystal clear waters...

...swaying palm trees and panoramic sunsets...

...or that one place that truly makes you feel alive,

we all continue to search.

But how far would you go to find it?

Since ancient Hawaiians started riding waves

on carved-out wooden boards, surfers have scoured the globe

searching for the perfect, undiscovered wave.

In today's world, it is now more difficult

than ever to uncover an untouched world-class wave.

The waves out there yet to be discovered now lie

on the most remote places on the planet

where it is virtually inaccessible to reach

or too dangerous to travel.

This has left only a small group of surfers

who share the same mindset to leave the comforts

of the Western world to travel to the world's

most isolated and inhospitable lands,

enduring hostile conditions in hopes of finding

their own version of a perfect wave.

They are modern-day explorers known as feral surfers.

Today, one of the most well known

and respected feral surfers still searching

for perfection is Travis Potter.

A United States native, now living in Indonesia,

Travis travels to the far reaches

of the globe, surviving off the jungle,

in hopes of discovering his own paradise.

Travis believes to have found an area

yet to be explored for waves,

with great potential to contain hidden perfection.

As I was poring over the charts

and trying to figure out where we want to go exactly

and just kinda searching for areas that looked like

they hadn't been too explored,

I see a spot and it's like, "Wow,

this could potentially be really good."

The spot lies not only in the most remote region

of Indonesia, but the entire world.

It is the last frontier in surf exploration.

It is the Indonesian province of West Papua,

located on the western half of the island of New Guinea.

A land with the densest rainforest in the world,

an island untouched by time...

...struggling with a bloody conflict.

To travel the region, Travis calls upon

a crew of feral surfers who share the same drive

to discover a world-class wave.

A group of individuals who live for the unfamiliar

and the dangers it may bring.

Don't let her radiant beauty

and contagious smile fool you,

Jenny Useldinger is one of the very few professional

female big wave surfers.

She is absolutely fearless,

charging some of the heaviest waves

on the planet.

As a free surfer, one of our jobs

is just documenting stuff that nobody else

has done before, and just sharing

the part of our lifestyle that is about

going above and beyond surfing down the street

from your house.

Spencer Frame, a world tour guide

and modern-day explorer.

When I first heard about this opportunity,

I was so excited, I asked Travis

and I said, "Man, you gotta take me with you."

As a cultural liaison, my experience

with different people and all around the world,

I'd be an asset.

Josh Fuller,

one of the best-kept secrets in surfing,

who stopped competing to pursue his own endeavors

of searching for waves and solace.

Life as a surfer, it's a pretty good deal.

You get to surf the world's best waves.

Along the way, you just--

you get a lot of experiences that you won't get

doing other things.

Jimmy Rotherham.

This legendary El Salvadorian charger

has mapped up and down

the coast of Central and South America,

traveling to the ends of the regions.

Jimmy is known as one of the best

Latin American surfers around.

Andrew Mooney, the youngest of all the surfers,

is known for his hard-charging approach

to the world's heaviest waves.

His fearless and often reckless attitude

toward surfing has taken him across the globe

in search of the next new ride.

I just expected to experience a fair bit of a mission.

We've been warned that, you know,

we can get into trouble here if we're not careful

with the tribe and the military.

...who started fighting a group of separatists

of the Free Papua movement in the area.

Al Jazeera and other foreign media

are being banned from traveling to Papua.

Even in modern-day Indonesia,

in some isolated and neglected parts,

this dark past still seems to live on.

Jayapura.

The only major city and gateway

to the remote jungles of West Papua.

A city divided by the hostile tensions

between the local Papuans

and the Indonesian military and police.

An area you cannot avoid,

a place you cannot leave fast enough.

Have pity on Papua New Guinea.

Help return it.

Our first introduction is this guy

that's really vocal about his opinions

about what's happening with the suppression

of the people over there, and it was a hell of a way

to start a trip that we were already

really anxious about.

With gear exposed that is valued higher

than the average yearly income,

it's a race to get out of the public eye.

It was a different kind of place.

I mean, we just had to get the hell out of there.

They're having a yelling match.

Still yelling, there's a fight

right down the street here.

Oh, they're pushing each other.

You'd feel a tense vibe to the whole place.

It was this very street where recent riots erupted

that led to three police officer deaths

and hundreds of injured Papuans.

The best way to stay away from any problematic situation

was to just get ourselves far away from big towns

and just generally people, and be on our own.

We don't really know what we're doing,

except for that we wanted to get some boats

and get the heck out of town.

Fluent in the language, negotiating with locals

is left to Travis.

Perfect.

He establishes a room for the group to hide out in.

At least for now, just to sort out

what we're doing, we'll go to the harbor,

figure it out.

Check out a boat.

To keep a low profile, Travis goes alone

to negotiate the boats out of the city,

leaving the cameras behind.

To stay under the radar, he has set set up

a group of fisherman to take them

in the middle of the night.

It's 3:00 in the morning, wake up,

get all our stuff together, head down to the pier.

We kinda just slipped in in the dark

and got on a boat and tried to get out

as quick as we could undetected.

Failing to slip away in the dark,

curious eyes gazing down upon them

are a reminder of their vulnerability

in traveling to the great unknown.

We took off and we just started

driving down the coast, and where we're gonna go

is information we didn't know, exactly.

There are no maps or travel books

to guide them where to go.

They must give themselves to fate,

traveling only by instinct,

making them truly susceptible

to the elements of the jungle.

We're kinda just winging it,

looking to find whatever.

It's extremely adventurous,

we don't have any kind of schedule or agenda

except we're just on a mission to find waves,

and how much more of paradise

can you be in than that?

The first crew of boats that we hired,

they didn't really wanna go too far.

I think they felt like they'd taken us further

than they wanted to already.

So, just seeing a lot of cliff face

and no potential for surf and they told us

about a little village.

I was a little concerned, 'cause this is our first time.

They're just going off and just dropping us.

Forget plans on trips like these.

It's not about maintaining structure,

but rather adapting to the uncontrollable events

that surround them.

When meeting the chief, all they can hope

is that the last visitors were polite.

It's a bit intimidating.

We had no idea how we were gonna

be received by people that maybe have never

seen foreign people or maybe not

since World War II.

You just find the kepala desa,

which is the head of the village,

and ask him permission to come aboard his beach.

All nine of us?

Travis is shown true hospitality

and granted permission by the chief

to set up camp on his beach.

So, all our stuff's safer here?

We can just set up tents, hammocks right here?

Right on.

They couldn't have been more hospitable to us

and they had some fish that they cooked up for us,

and it was so friendly and they insisted

we stay the night and they'll organize

another boat for us to keep us going

and checking out some more coastline.

They learn that Daniel, the chief,

settled with his wife and five boys

in an isolated stretch of beach

where they live off the jungle

in seclusion from the rest of the village.

As the only two women, an immediate respect

and understanding is made

between Daniel's wife and Jenny,

without even speaking the same language.

I'm sitting here whacking away at it,

she's like, "No, no, no, no, no,"

and shows me how to do it.

Getting to go and interact with these people,

that's living right there.

The last thing I wanna do is just stay

in my little world and be so secure.

Come on, step out of the box and live!

Daniel's beach may not have a world-class wave,

but it certainly has it's own kind of perfection.

♪ Deserts in your eyes

♪ Reveal your thirst inside

♪ To cut the rope you tie

♪ Jump the great divide

♪ To stretch your wings and fly ♪

♪ Leave it all behind

There was a little kid, he was trying to copy me

catching waves, trying to do the same thing.

It was pretty cool.

I was trying to get him on the board,

but he's like, "Get out, Jack, no, no."

♪ You still have your home

We gathered up some stuff and lit the fire,

cranked that up.

Squid brothers, squid brothers.

Look at the ink!

Got some of the local moonshine.

I don't even know what it was.

We got upstaged by the locals

in the dance-off.

Woo!

It ended up being a really fun place to stay.

Once the word spread that there were

some foreigners in town, everyone wanted

to come hang out.

♪ Let's get this party started ♪

♪ Until the break of dawn

We kinda talked to each other,

we had a few drinks, and we all hit it off somehow,

so, it was good.

Look at the island!

By the pool!

Woo!

I've got the worst headache.

But, I didn't get bit by any mosquitoes,

so I suppose everything's good.

Living in the moment, it's easy

to let your guard down.

For the group, this meant veering

off their original plan of staying on their own,

a mistake that puts them on the military radar.

Word spreads pretty fast

that there's some foreigners in town.

It got to the local police in another village

a bit further away and it comes back to us

that we gotta go check in and show 'em our passports

and let 'em know we're traveling in the area.

So, I just brought a couple of the guys with me.

I don't think anything's gonna happen,

but it's probably for the best that we do

what they kinda want us to do.

The local police demand their passport information

and the details on where they're traveling.

They assure them that this is for their own safety.

Whether this is true or not,

they will take their chances

without the aid of the police.

Wrote our names in the little log book

and gave 'em false information about where we were going

so that they weren't on our tail.

Plan?

Load up, load up!

The whole point was to just be

as far away from anyone,

especially government officials.

So, with the police knowing where we're at,

it was time to go and move on to somewhere else

and find something more isolated on our own.

Daniel suggests taking them further up the coast,

where they will be even more remote

and where the police and military

have little access.

Back into the unknown of what lies ahead,

they continue their search for perfect waves

along the isolated coastline.

When you go looking for waves,

it's really not that easy.

You gotta study the reefs and scour the coast.

It's always really hard to search for waves by boat,

'cause you can't really see what's going on,

you can't tell what the reef's doing

and if there's actually a wave in front.

So we'd see something and we thought,

maybe a wave, and go hike in and look around,

see what's close by.

The points that we thought had the most potential

ended up not being the best wave.

One hand, you're trying to find waves,

so you can get some footage and get some exposure

for when you get home and on the other side,

we just wanna surf really good waves.

That's the underlying driving force.

As they travel further up the coast,

the coastline becomes jagged

with steep cliffs lining the shore,

creating little potential for waves.

So we spent a few days searching around,

looking for waves and we found,

in this particular area, it's really inconsistent

and it can be a long time before the swells come.

So, we end up spending a lot

of our down time fishing, just trying to survive

on our own.

Easy, work it!

Get it!

Work it, show him up.

With rations very limited,

their main food supply is what they can catch

for that day.

Oh, look at that beauty!

That's my boy!

Fabulous.

"Oh, my gosh, he caught a fish!

We're gonna have food now, we can eat!"

So, we're really just hoping to find

someplace where we can stay

on the beach for the night to camp out

and rethink what's going on.

Once again, plans are thrown to the wayside,

dictated by a low supply of petrol

and the steep New Guinea coastline.

Daniel is forced to dump the team off in a village

even larger than his own.

Pull up into this bay and we're a bit intimidated

because we didn't realize how big of a village

it was gonna be.

And an intimidating welcome with all of a sudden,

just all these people.

Without any other option, they are dropped off

and left to figure out their next move.

We had no more fuel and I was trying

to organize things, figure out

what our next move was, and we could see

some potential for some waves

further up in the bay.

There's one on the back.

While I was trying to organize things,

a couple of the guys pulled some boards out

and hopped in the water, went for a paddle.

In this particular area, it's pretty obvious

that none of the kids have ever seen

any Western people,

and here come these excited little kids

and they got these planks of wood,

and they go running out into the water and,

sure enough, they're riding waves

on these old pieces of wood on their stomachs.

Straight away, pulled some surfboards

up for them and trying to teach 'em

how to stand up, it was pretty exciting.

Being a coach was a very good experience

for everybody, for us and for them

and teaching them a new sport

and have a little more relationship with the ocean

and, you know, it's amazing.

Some of 'em were standing up

and just the smiles on their faces,

they were in disbelief.

Took a while for them to warm up to us,

but once they did, it was an amazing place

to hang out and teach 'em how to surf.

All the guys were having so much fun with the kids

and taking 'em surfing,

and nobody would hang out with me.

None of the kids wanted to come

and learn how to surf by me.

I felt like they were just like,

"Oh, girl, oh, stay away!"

There was tons of kids on the beach,

but they were all separate.

It was very distinct of female and male.

So, I was kinda chipping on that factor.

You like to surf?

Surf, today, you wanna go surf?

I just kinda went down there

and I threw one of my boards out

for the kids to jump on

and then there was quite a few girls

started jumping on and hanging out after that.

I was pretty stoked.

Instantly, it was, "Oh, we're staying."

This is gonna be where we're staying for a bit.

In a culture where roles and activities

are separated by gender, there is a curiosity

and respect for Jenny as the girls in the village

watch her doing the same as the men.

Jemaline.

Jenny, pleased to meet you.

Your...were those your daughters surfing today?

-Yeah. -They were doing so good.

They were having so much fun.

Jenny is nice, we like her

because she's really kind.

Oh!

Where'd you learn English?

You speak so well.

I know English, little, little.

Just little.

You speak it very good.

I was really happy, right here in this moment

with all these villagers, that's so amazing.

It was kind of, like, surreal, to be honest.

In a land where basic means of survival

is more important than the U.S. dollar,

they contemplate giving Daniel their meal

as a parting gift.

Just to have, just give it to them.

They'd be so stoked.

They'd be really stoked.

It's a tough call, you know?

That looks delicious.

Wahoo are great to eat,

but I'm sure they appreciated it

probably more than we did.

Did you give 'em the fish?

Yeah, we'll catch another one.

It was so extremely beautiful.

Everything they need to survive,

all right there.

They just eat a lot of fish

and having this meal out of sap.

This one is sagu.

The traditional for--

The tree sap, they just kinda stir it up

and the texture is really chewy.

I think it was the texture, more than anything,

that got to people.

I dunno, the curry was good,

but I'm not sure about this.

Trying to swallow it, it was, like...

really sticky.

They ended up saying we could stay

in this amazing shack that was just above

the water on stilts.

It was just such a dream location,

it was so beautiful.

Okay, this is the front door,

which is pretty much the same as the windows.

No door, no lock.

Set up our beds here, right?

Got a hammock if you feel

like taking a break, relaxing.

This is good in the mornings.

This is our headquarters.

When you let your fears go,

you open yourself up and give yourself

to the moment, that's when you truly live.

The encounter with the people was exhilarating.

It was really cool.

It's something that I haven't felt

on any of my other travels.

We're smiling at them, they're smiling at us,

and they're probably thinking,

"Who are these guys, what are they doing here?

What are they gonna do, why--why?"

You know, but they-- we were greeted like family.

Is that right?

And you are?

Yeah.

Jeffrey.

Hello, Jeffrey!

What's your name?

-Nenas! -Nenas.

-Menas! -Menas, Menas.

I gotta make sure I get the name right, right?

It's very important, right?

It's very interesting to me

to come and check places like this out

and absorb the whole culture

and the whole cultural clash.

Just to learn more about people and life in general.

And for them to embrace us,

it was really, really cool.

They've been treating us like kings.

So cool, I mean, look at where we're staying.

We basically just spend our days

just hanging out with the people in the village

and getting to know 'em,

and some of the local kids

would take us up and around over the hills,

and we found some pretty fun little waves for them.

Oh, I made him cry, that sucks.

With a growing bond,

the villagers begin to share

the horrors that haunt their people.

Just talking with her about P.N.G.,

and she was born in P.N.G.

That's where she learned her English.

And her father's from this village,

so she moved back here.

She's saying that people that sometimes

take things from ya.

West Papua and Indonesia are still fighting.

The government, they want to take our land or what.

They take all the resource and everything,

gold and what from here, this land.

They feel like if they leave this land they will become poor.

They kill many Papuans. Women, ladies, little child.

Do they ever come here and cause trouble?

If the people have job already too,

and the job is good, they kill them.

Like my brother, three weeks ago.

They kill him and they send his dead body here.

We already bury him.

I'm sorry to hear about your brother.

Do you think it's getting better or worse?

Get worse, they don't want the world to know.

They just kill the people silent.

It's a full genocide.

To destroy the Papuan, West Papuan people.

And it's been going on for, like,

thirty-plus years, forty years.

That's one reason I didn't want the police to know

we were even around

when we had to sign in, you know.

I'm glad you were able to talk to us about it.

'Cause I know it's difficult sometimes.

We wish to get freedom back.

Gutter ball!

Oh!

Oh, you got four!

It was a pretty good crew to be with.

No one's complaining that we're not finding waves,

and everyone seemed to be pretty happy

just to take in the culture and the sights

and experience something different.

♪ Eyes to the ocean, we looked out far away ♪

♪ And you play with our children as they smile ♪

♪ The way they smile and bat their eyes ♪

♪ You just wanna say, I'm a goose ♪

♪ La-di-la-di-da-da

as we sit under the sky ♪

Jenny organized a night surf one night.

I think I just shrugged it off,

went, "Ah, you're not gonna be able to see anything."

I figured I was a bit surfed out.

♪ Sitting in the sand, watch the tide roll up ♪

♪ Take a deep breath in as your past fades out ♪

♪ Let everything else just fade

into the horizon ♪

♪ When the planets stop spinning

and the music stops ♪

♪ Take a deep breath in, let your life fade out ♪

♪ With everything else, you'll fade

into the horizon ♪

Just as you begin to feel comfortable

within the elements,

the jungle will remind you

of the thin line between life and death

when traveling to one of its most remote parts.

Jenny got stung by something

when she hit the bottom

and didn't really have a good idea

of what it was that stung her.

It's like a dark spot right there.

Let me grab a light.

I was sitting in the shack here,

and she came in sort of holding her hand,

and she was having really bad pain

sort of going up her arm.

I can't really move my fingers.

I don't know--

I was freaking out thinking,

"We're stuck in the middle of the jungle."

I was worried.

I didn't know what we were gonna do.

You're gonna be all right, you'll be all right.

Make sure you just breathe deep.

In the middle of the night,

stung by something in the middle of nowhere

without any real medical help available.

The fear of that started to really play

on Jenny's anxiety.

Ow.

Ow!

It got you sideways almost.

Instead of going straight in,

it probably went like--

As the locals observe Jenny,

it becomes clear as to what stung her.

They draw out a fish with spines in the sand.

-Nail fish. -Nail fish.

She said there's nail fish.

Little fish, but they got nails.

If this is a really bad poison,

we've got no help here.

We've got no way of fixing it.

And then that got kinda scary.

We knew this could get serious.

If she goes into shock

or has an allergic reaction to this...

Done.

The only thing that's going to make her feel better is

really, really hot water.

Is anyone boiling some water?

I'll go boil some, eh?

There's not much more you can do

other than get as hot a water

as you possibly can

and keep it on the wound

to coagulate the poison

and give some relief.

So much better.

Yeah, it's always a little scary when someone gets hurt

and they're far away from getting help.

It was a pretty good test

of how well the group fit together.

Thank God it sort of passed,

but not quickly.

I think that whole night, she was in pain, yeah.

Staying in the village they are now beginning

to call a second home,

surfing has now become part

of the village's daily routine.

Every time we wake up in the morning,

the first thing we see is the kids

playing on the boards

just right there in the lagoon,

and runnin' and jumpin' on 'em.

Pretty cool to wake up to every morning.

Everyone's just out in the water

havin' a good time,

and just watching the transformation

into a little surf community.

The kids took so much pride

in getting to show the younger ones

what to do.

You know, you share what you've been given

and you just keep passing it down.

And it was so incredible to see that.

♪ Just a slice of copper moon ♪

♪ Over the ocean, ocean blue ♪

♪ To hear my one and only tune ♪

♪ To strike a chord that brings me to you ♪

♪ Ooh

♪ There was a time

The surfers found a utopia

amongst a group of strangers

who they are now beginning to call family.

It seemed like we ended up losing track

of the whole original vision of the trip

that we're there to go find surf

and find something world class,

and it's time to go move on again

and keep hunting.

Supposedly, on the northwest tip over here,

it looks like there's reef passes

from satellite photos.

So hopefully, we should get some waves over there.

We'll just have to go and see what happens

when we get there.

The village will forever remain in their hearts,

and in exchange,

they each leave a gift behind.

After having such a good time

teaching these kids how to surf,

we decided that the best gift

we could leave them with

was to give them some of our boards.

It's a good feeling to be able to give something

that someone's not gonna have

the opportunity to ever get again,

especially in a place where it could affect

the whole community in a positive way,

and bring them together in a way

that they never had before.

Come back in six months' time,

they'll all be surfing pretty well.

Here's to the future generation of rippers in Papua.

We really want these people to stay

because they make fun and we enjoy.

When we left, it was a pretty emotional sendoff.

We'd gotten really close to the people that live there,

and it was almost maybe more emotional for them,

seeing near, like, tears in their eyes,

they didn't want us to go at all.

Living in fear,

isolated from the rest of the world,

hope had finally come to their doorstep.

A letter to the Swiss

to help them get their freedom.

And the bottom, "Papua Merdeka,"

is like, "Free Papua."

That gave me the goose bumps before.

I'm gonna keep this in a very special place.

We weren't really supposed to end up here.

It's just really the way it happened,

and if it hadn't gone down that way,

we wouldn't have met such amazing people.

♪ Or so I'm told

♪ Beyond the hail,

out of the foam ♪

♪ From the east has burnt out ♪

Already spent days and days

traveling, looking, not finding anything

and there's a few hundred miles to explore.

We're runnin' out of time.

We're on the second largest island in the world,

so we gotta cover more ground quickly,

so we figured we'd find a village

that had cars and check out some more maps

and see what kind of road access there is

to the coastline.

Once we got to the next harbor,

we wanted to get a car out of there

as quick as possible.

It seemed like a more bustling town,

and someone was on us pretty quick.

Do you know the place?

We're just trying to figure it out.

Basically on a straightaway,

and there was no missing us.

We were the only white people.

We were just a target.

If we go up to the north,

we need one bus.

He said was selling himself as a guide.

He could show us around and take us

where we wanted to go.

So we sort of tried to ditch him a few times.

And it wasn't really working.

He was pretty good.

He was like glue,

we just couldn't get rid of him.

He started getting pretty public

with the things he would say.

The militia, they come here

to try to get everything, what we have here.

They steal our mine, gold, everything.

Killing people.

We talk to them.

We want to talk, we don't want to fight.

But they don't wanna.

They want to shoot, kill, shoot, kill.

We don't want to die.

They're way more outspoken here

than the last place we were at.

Heavy stuff, it's some heavy stuff.

Ten thousand people in Papua New Guinea

will return very soon.

People from this island.

He's talking about West Papuans

that went to Papua New Guinea,

that are gonna come back,

and I don't know,

sounds to me like a revolution.

This could be a little dangerous.

Whether they're skeptical of the man or not,

the executive decision is made

to bring him along as their guide.

He spoke really good English

and had a lot of knowledge of the area.

For me, it seemed like this would be a good guide

not only to find out more information

about what's really going on over there,

but as well, using him to find

some really good waves, hopefully.

We ended up just getting one big bus for everyone.

We're just gonna get in the bus

and drive all night.

We don't really know what to expect,

but from talking to a bunch of the locals,

they all say the same thing,

that's a place where the big, big waves comes in.

♪ I just want to go

but I didn't wanna let go ♪

♪ I just want to go

Whoo!

♪ But I didn't wanna let go ♪

♪ And I find myself

in a fleeting moment ♪

♪ Travelin' far and wide

to the great big open ♪

♪ Things are coming into focus ♪

♪ Things are coming into focus ♪

♪ I've got wind in my face

and it's getting me on ♪

♪ I've got wind in my face

and it's getting me on ♪

♪ On

♪ All of this time I was searching ♪

♪ Searching for my home

♪ And I discovered

home is where I am ♪

♪ And I find myself

here in the middle ♪

♪ Of a great divide

and in the moment ♪

♪ Things are coming into focus ♪

♪ Things are coming into focus ♪

♪ I've got wind in my face

and it's getting me on ♪

♪ I've got wind in my face

and it's getting me on ♪

♪ On

♪ All of this time I was searching ♪

♪ Searching for my home

♪ And I discovered

home is where I am ♪

Traveling through the densest rainforest

in the world, there was no sure way.

The jungle ultimately determines

where and how we will travel.

We're--we're in the middle of the bush.

There's no way back, no way forward.

We're on foot from here.

This is serious malaria territory,

not to mention the spider that was about this big

that we just seen crawling on the windscreen.

Let's go.

All right, let's go, we'll follow.

Let's get the ... out of here.

So crucial out here.

Come on, boys, let's move.

This man is military.

So I hope he is not home.

We're trekking through the jungle

just trying to find something, a beach,

to sleep on or something.

This kid comes out of nowhere

wavin' his torch and starts guiding us.

They were led to a wooden shack

on the outskirts of a village,

where a man named Adolf welcomes the surfers.

We gotta cut back on the coconut oil.

These guys said stay here,

don't worry about security.

Okay.

Visitors pour into Adolf's to meet the guys,

where a nightly ritual

of singing Papuan ballads ensues.

The music starts lighthearted and upbeat,

but as the night progresses,

the music begins to reflect the pain

in the Papuans' hearts,

which is evident in their eyes.

Adolf suggests they sing

the forbidden Papuan freedom song.

Please!

It's heart-wrenching,

but its meaning is, you know.

Can you get in trouble for singing this?

Yes.

That's military behind us,

so not do it.

Some captain, four years ago,

he went to Holland.

He write one book about Papua like this,

about singing, and a story.

He went to Holland, came back,

they kill him in hotel.

The Papuans rely heavily on music

to tell the stories of the struggles they endure.

Mother.

There's a mother when you're little kids,

you mother really take care of you.

When you walk, when you run and you fall down,

your mother always gonna pick you up.

She love you.

So, these men sing this song

to remember when his mother die.

Whoo!

Yeah!

It'd been a while into the trip

and we had some fun surfs and fun sessions.

A ton of variety that on its day,

looked like it could be amazing.

We were surfing really fun, perfect waves

but we were there for serious waves.

Overhead world-class barrels.

It didn't look like they were coming.

Perfect setups lined the coast,

but without a large enough swell,

the odds of finding that perfection looked dim.

Almost.

Winding down on the last few days of the trip,

they need a miracle,

and they need it fast.

Fate or pure luck?

That following morning,

the calm shores from the night before

begin to rise,

and signs of a major swell,

capable of creating large waves,

start to show.

We had a swell pop up for the last three days,

and it looked really good.

We could see all this swell at the front

of the place where we were.

So basically, we had a small window first day.

It peaked the second day and was gone.

We had one shot to go home saying,

"We found world-class waves."

After doing a bit more research

on the direction that the beach faced

and the direction swells normally come from,

we realized that it'd be pretty rare

to get waves here.

I was kind of freaking out.

I said, "Look, we've gotta go and look for waves."

We had these boats organized

to go west down the coast

where we hadn't checked out yet,

and they were late.

So we'll start without transport

with the swell on the way.

We knew there were better spots.

There was a scooter at the place we're at.

And we were able to get one person with the camera

on the scooter to go try and find waves.

Mooney got the shot.

Jumped on a moped,

and sort of headed back down the coast.

Then I hit a bump,

and I went down with the bike.

Sort of got a big gash in my toe and kept going.

There was just a different coastline.

There was all these waves breaking everywhere.

We sorta looked across this bank,

and see this wave peeling

with these perfect barrels.

These big, round cylinders just going down the reef.

I was freaking out.

We had lost it.

Just got back on the bike.

Raced back.

He came back, just lit up

with that full-on surf excitement that we all look for.

And he just, you know, you couldn't settle him down.

And we were in disbelief

that there was this wave that was going on,

and we weren't there.

So the next day, with the six-foot swell,

that was us.

We had our spot.

But we still didn't have transport.

In our heads we know

that it's the best waves that happened the entire trip,

and we're sitting there...

...just trying to figure out how to get there.

It was taking forever.

We're all startin' to get pretty stressed, you know.

Just like...

"Get us to the waves, now!"

And then finally, the boat showed up.

And there's not nearly enough room for everyone.

And I'm just frothin' to--to go surfin'.

And I just remember sayin', "Every man for himself."

So I kinda had a little plan up my sleeve

to, uh, get there on my own if I can get there quicker.

So I talked to the owner

of the--of the bike that Mooney had wrecked,

worked out a deal.

I told him, "I can fix your bike if I can use it for the day."

So I let those guys go on the boat.

I'm gonna lose it.

Finally got the boat going the right direction,

and there's a good chance this thing's gonna sink.

Do you guys have more water back there?

The boat was not seaworthy.

There was water pouring in it.

We had way too many people and way too much equipment.

I don't know about this.

This boat's sketchy.

As they arrive at the wave

with their boat upright and still intact,

they find Travis already in the water.

Stay here?

So, by the time we pull up,

it's a little bit on shore, and, uh, and crumbling.

It just wasn't quite right.

Now the people in the-- that took the boat

thought that we got skunked,

like, "Oh no, we've missed it."

They came up just short of surfing the perfect wave.

All the things that go wrong were all going wrong

on the day that we needed it to all go right.

As all hope was lost,

the wind shifted,

and the swell grew even larger,

turning a mush of a wave into absolute perfection.

Getting barrel after barrel, sharing waves

in this remote location, it was just...oh.

I highly doubt I'll find a wave ride like that again now.

We just ended up absolutely

getting really, really good waves,

and making the entire trip worthwhile

after everything we've been through,

and all the struggles.

It was everything you could ever hope for,

with that violent surf there, it was the perfect lift.

The perfect ride.

It had everything.

It was like the wave you dream about,

that you draw in your books at school,

and you find it, it's incredible.

It had all come together for that, for that one day,

for one surf,

and it was absolutely worth it,

and we were just like, "Yeah, we did it.

We scored."

They finally found the wave they were searching for.

And in the process, they shared their joy of riding waves

with those searching for something positive

to hold onto.

♪ We're too young to be confused ♪

After all the time we spent

looking for some kind of a perfect wave,

then we finally find it.

We get it, it's good.

But then it's time to go,

but there's still so many questions left unanswered,

and it was sorta like, it wasn't as fulfilling

as you would've thought going into it.

♪ It's too cold to catch a fire ♪

♪ There are burdens on the pyre ♪

♪ Maybe we can make up an answer to their questions ♪

When we found some world-class waves,

we'd kind of accomplished our goal,

but there was still something missing.

I mean, we were leaving people

that desperately needed our help.

We have the opportunity to tell the world about what's going on,

and give these people a voice,

which hopefully will make some changes in their future,

and in this part of the world for sure.

They've gotta be the biggest-hearted people

I've ever met in my life.

Bye!

The impact of the Papuan people on the surfers

resonated with them long after they returned home

from their journey.

That's morning star.

This, uh, West Papua flag.

This our own flag.

They're one people, one soul.

That's what we borrow from this flag.

Give it back, so American, you are superpower, yeah?

Country and around the world.

So we are please, do it for us.

because we have our children for the next generation.

If we didn't need independence,

you need to do it for us.

Then our children, our family, and the future will be dying.

Thank you.

♪ The landslide

♪ Landslide

Returning back to Jakarta,

West Papua would nearly claim the life of one of the surfers.

After contracting cerebral malaria,

Travis fought for his life.

Everyone that I've talked to that have had malaria before,

they say right when you get, you know that that's what it is,

and bam, it hit me.

Just a whole different feeling

than I've ever had from any sickness.

So the first two nights were just so rough.

I was by myself, filled with pain,

and just in and out of reality.

And I was just kinda scared to fall asleep

thinkin' I might not wake up.

Or I might wake up and freak out,

and jump off the balcony.

So I basically just stayed awake all night,

and just, just sat there,

and just concentrated on breathing.

During a horrific battle alone in a third-world hospital,

the surf community around the world comes to his aid

in raising money to get treatment.

Hi, my name's Timmy Turner,

and, uh, my friend Travis Potter is sick.

And all the donations help.

It was pretty amazing, some of my friends givin' me support,

sayin', you know, "We're gonna collect some cash,

and pay for your bills."

It was a pretty good feeling

knowing that just the whole surfing world--

everyone's like family.

They step up to the plate when one person needs help.

While stuck in Jakarta,

tensions in West Papua continued to build.

A report by a prominent West Papuan church leader

has accused the Indonesian military

of committing systematic genocide in the province.

With the number of human rights abuses in the region

becoming more frequent, without any international response,

it was clear to Travis

that the voices of West Papua were not being heard.

For me, ultimately the thing that I'd like to see

is that people are aware of the situation over there.

The images are shocking.

Men wearing military uniforms

threaten to cut the victim's throat, kill him, and burn him.

The video is so graphic, we have blurred the most extreme scenes.

Especially the part

where the interrogators burned the man's genitals.

Travis knew he could not leave Indonesia

without doing his part to give the West Papuan people a voice.

This would mean returning to the place

that almost cost him his life.

I've--I've spent most of my adult life

traveling around Indonesia, and being amongst the people.

And they're an amazing people,

and it's pretty much nothing but smiles and hospitality.

So this is a whole different thing,

to--to see them fighting amongst themselves,

and really wanted to investigate more to the root of the cause,

and see what it was all about.

Traveling alone, Travis returns to Jayapura

to meet with a human rights lawyer,

and four Papuan political figures.

Along the way there was a lot of different feelings going on.

You know, anticipation with a little bit of fear.

For fear of being tailed by the military,

their escorts ask them to turn off their cameras

until they reach their destination.

Pulling up to the hotel,

and seeing that there was guards around.

We had to be escorted in,

and it was a pretty overwhelming scenario,

you know, nothing like-- I kind of imagined

just going to have a little chat with someone.

The men were on edge at first when meeting Travis.

They feel like they're always being watched and followed,

and, uh, it was a bit intimidating.

Speaking out against the Indonesian government

can be considered an act of treason.

With the prohibition of journalist visas,

these men believe

this may be the only chance for their voice to be heard.

They know that you coming, we are sitting here now.

They know that we're speaking about Papuan freedom.

So this is the problem,

that we're not free to have information.

The struggle began in 1969 with the Act of Free Choice.

Under the agreement, the Dutch will transfer to the Indonesian

the administration of the territory they both claim.

Until full transfer next May,

it will be administered by the United Nations.

And in 1969, the Papuan natives will vote--

The Act of Free Choice was a vote on whether West Papua

would relinquish sovereignty under Indonesian rule

or become independent.

The vote, decided by approximately 1,000 people,

was to stay with Indonesia.

The validity of the vote was challenged by West Papuans,

with claims of corruption and intimidation.

After the Act of Choice in Papua,

Indonesia has had many, many bouts of human rights.

They killed many people.

How often do they kill the people?

Still after they kill, shooting by the gun,

and then they cut it.

Throw to the sea.

The parents in the bottom of the house

but in the house

the daughter of the parents

used by the military.

There, many, many things happen like that.

Around the largest mine in West Papua, the Grasberg mine,

is where the majority of human rights violations

have taken place.

The mine is not owned by Indonesia, but in fact,

the Freeport-McMoRan Mining Company,

located in the United States.

Freeport has paid the local police and military $79 million

over the past ten years

in connection with security operations

conducted on behalf of Freeport-McMoRan.

Though Freeport-McMoRan has claimed they are not connected

to the human right abuses in the region,

they continue to monetarily empower the military,

who is directly involved.

Please take our resources, but we want to be free.

We want to be free on our land.

Having only scratched the surface of the Papuan conflict

in the Northern Coastal region

of the second-largest island in the world,

Travis knows he must travel

to even more remote parts of the island

to fully understand the struggle.

He calls on Josh and Andrew to travel back with him

to West Papua.

We wanted to go, you know, see firsthand, for ourselves,

the area that was sort of

the original area of all the conflict,

and the area that's been the most affected,

and the culture that's been pretty much wiped out up there.

So we wanted to go find out

a little bit more about the situation.

Being up in the highlands,

we were able to get a lot better idea

of the whole assimilation process

of how they're bringing the tribal culture

into a more modern state, and forcing change upon them.

Penis gourd is cover for the man, you know, man...

Only for oldest people still wearing the penis gourd.

But the oldest, getting very old, they die,

and the jungle people, they don't wear no more

because of modern influence.

They go to school in the city.

They want to do the same as what they learn there.

That's the system made by Indonesia.

They have schooling,

and they're not taught about their local culture.

So the youngest generation, although they're here living it,

they're losing their ability to live how they live.

They're becoming Westernized, basically.

The situations in the past during an assimilation process,

that one group of people

were forcing their beliefs on another.

In order for it to work out,

they have to destroy the original culture,

until it's nearly lost.

There won't be people living such a simple life,

with everything they need right here for too much longer,

you know?

With their newfound knowledge,

Travis, Andrew, and Josh decide to make one last stop

before returning home.

The one place that had changed their lives forever.

I'm getting excited now,

and we're only about 10 minutes away.

I wonder what's gonna be, uh,

the expression on their faces

when we just show up out of the blue?

Last time when we left, there was like tears all around,

it was pretty emotional.

There was a bit of a rumor around the port that

um, that it's become a bit of a surfing town.

I just can't wait to see their faces when we first pull up.

There was a hope that they'd all be out in the water surfing,

and that they'd see us, and, and recognize us straight away,

and--and there'd be a sort of party

that we're back with the surfing.

So here we are.

It was a little bit disappointing.

It was pretty much deserted, and their wasn't a ripple of a wave.

Got Jemaline?

From the new face on the beach, they learned that Jemaline,

along with many other villagers, were no longer there.

They learned that the chief who had given Travis the letter,

had passed away.

The village they once loved was no longer there.

Without a ripple of a wave to surf,

all they could do now

was share stories about the village from their first trip.

That was until a familiar sight was spotted in the distance.

Soon, faces began to look familiar.

What is--what's your name?

Nenas.

While many of the villagers had left,

the surfing stayed.

And with the boards came old friends.

Even without any waves,

kids still found a way to surf.

The fact that they were still playing on the boards

when there were no waves was--was pretty cool,

because they don't have to ride waves the way we ride waves.

It was once again

beginning to feel like the place they had left.

And once again, the villagers felt like family,

and the village, like home.

That night, they discover the reason

why so many of the villagers had already left.

Oh my gosh, look at that shit.

"Parking area, souvenir kiosk."

They're gonna have like a pier for fishing over in here.

So they're gonna dredge this whole thing.

It's gonna be a whole nother world here.

The locals explain that the destruction of their village,

consisting of three families

since their ancient ancestors arrived,

is to make way for a hotel resort.

The reality hits the surfers

when the villagers present the development plans.

This place is totally, 100 percent self-sustainable,

and they're just gonna take it from them.

We're so lucky to have found it when we did.

In a year's time,

they won't be able to live their lifestyle anymore.

They won't be able to fish the river.

They won't have access to the beach.

They'll just be kicked out,

and a tourist hotel will be sitting on their prime land,

the most pristine spot.

And without that spot,

I don't think they can be self-sustainable anymore.

Outside of the villagers' control,

they're being moved off the beach,

houses torn down, graves uprooted,

and are being sent up into the hills.

When they dredge it, there will not be a wave here anymore,

no one will be surfing.

That is like just the worst news ever,

that this place is gonna be destroyed next year.

-It's sad, eh? -Yeah.

-Makes me really sad. -Yeah.

What they were dealing with,

they'd been dealing with for a long time,

and will continue to deal with.

You'd love to be able to do something,

try and bring awareness,

and that's really about it.

Without the world really caring, nothing happens.

The whole world really has to...

...get emotional about it.

It is clear that they really were brought there for a reason.

If we can somehow create some peace here,

yeah, that'd be unreal.

This whole thing started out

as just a place to go explore as a surf mission,

and, uh, it's become so much more,

and really, it's become such a part of my life,

and affected me in so many ways.

And I'm really just hoping to get these people's message

to as many people that can see it,

and, uh, hopefully people understand

that there's a place where people need help.

Hopefully, I can do my little part in making a difference.

So we--we've taught these kids how to ride waves,

and now they're a part of this bigger tribe

that's everywhere in the world.

They won't be forgotten.

We'll take care of them.

They're like family.

The same tribe that came forward

to aid in Travis' struggle for his life.

A tribe consisting of riders all over the world,

who truly call themselves a surfer.

A tribe that will carry the Papua message

so that their struggle will not go in vain.

Though they are leaving West Papua,

they will never leave their friends behind.

Their journey with them has only just begun.

So many times we see atrocities occurring right before our eyes,

yet we do nothing, believing there is nothing we can do.

But we all can take action.

Carrying a letter from one of

the most isolated parts of the world

comes a mission for change

for a people who never thought their cries would be heard.

So at one point, the people of West Papua asked for your help

and gave you a letter, what did the letter say?

It basically says, uh, "We the people of Papua

declare our desire for freedom to the international government,

to the world, and international community,

and the red flag of Switzerland.

Please help our aspirations for freedom."

So this was like their once chance, you know,

to let their voices be heard.

It's another reason

kinda why it's going to the mass media as well,

is it throws it out there for everyone, you know?

Stop the genocide in Papua!

Since the beginning of making this film,

people all over the world

are now beginning to stand up for the West Papuan struggle.

Free the people of West Papua!

Free the people of West Papua!

Thank you very much.

The country of Norway has already made steps for change

by pulling its investors out of the mining company

Freeport-McMoRan,

a company that continues to empower the Indonesian military.

To help the people in West Papua,

it begins with a worldwide dialogue

allowing the Papuan voice to be heard.

You can do your part by visiting www.isolated.tv

and signing a petition demanding the U.S. Congress

to revisit Resolution 1355, drafted by Patrick Kennedy,

to stop the human rights abuses in West Papua.

You can record your own video

and become an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

Hi, my name is Ryan Philippe.

I'm an actor, director,

and I'm an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

For a better world tomorrow,

it begins with our actions today.

We have the power to create change.

Hi there, my name's Travis Potter,

I'm a citizen of the world,

and I'm an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

I'm Jenny Useldinger,

and I'm an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

My name's Josh Fuller,

and I'm an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

Hi, I'm Andrew Mooney,

and I'm an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

Hi, my name is Jimmy Rotherham, I'm a professional surfer,

and I'm an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

Hi, my name is Britney Snow, I'm an actress,

and I am an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

I'm Matt Dallas,

and I'm an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

Hi, I'm Tia Blanco, I'm a surfer,

and I'm an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

Hi, this is Craig Hetson from Bad Religion,

and I am an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

My name is Anastasia Ashley, and I'm a professional surfer.

I am an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

My name is Curren Caples, and I'm a skateboarder,

and I am an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

I'm Leven Rambin,

and I'm an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

Hi, I'm Art Brewer, I'm a photographer,

and I'm an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

My name is Jack McCoy, I'm a cinematographer,

and I'm an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

My name's Jeb Corliss, I'm a professional base jumper,

and I'm an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

I'm Britt Robertson,

and I'm an Ambassador for Peace.

My name's Erik Ellington, I'm a skateboarder,

and I'm an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

Hey, I'm Cody Simpson, I'm a singer/songwriter,

and I'm also an Isolated Ambassador for Peace.

I'm Jason Simon.

Parvati Shallow.

Justin Baldoni.

My name is Angelique Cabral.

I'm Duncan, and this is Ben.

I'm Susan Holmes-McKagen.

Hi, I'm Amber Arbucci.

I'm Randy Wayne.

My name's Tony Gavalero.

Roberta Mancino.

I'm Joel Michaely.

I'm Monica Keena.

Chris Galya.

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Cassi Scerbo.

-I'm Booboo Stewart. -I'm Fivel Stewart.

Jemily.

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Darto Sorry.

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Brook Landers.

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Jeremy McCormick.

Kyla Pearson.

-I am-- -And I'm--

-An Isolated-- -Isolated--

Isolated

Ambassador for Peace.