One of the many survivors that we met is Mr. Ichiro, and we present his story in a short film that we released on the 13th anniversary of the disaster in memory of those who perished. Ichiro was fishing near the coast of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, when the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck his boat. Stranded on an island during the devastation he wondered if he would ever see his family again.

Ichiro was fishing on a boat with when the tsunami
crashed his boat against the rocks of a deserted island.

Ichiro and the Wave is a documentary short directed by Isaac Kerlow
Produced by the Earth Observatory of Singapore
Total running time: 10m 30s, color
Film Completed: May 2016

Screening Schedule

Ichiro and the Wave was premiered at the San Antonio Film Festival. It won Best Documentary Short at the Top Indie Film Awards, and Exceptional Merit Awards in Human Spirit and also in Editing at the Docs Without Borders Film Festival.

October 2020
Agarra la vida Film Festival, Logroño, Spain

May 2018
Short Circuit Pacific Rim Film Festival, Victoria, Canada

February
Oregon Short Film Festival, Portland, Oregon

December 2017
Aceh Film Festival, Banda Aceh, Indonesia

November
Geo Film Festival, Cittadella, Padova, Italy

October
Festival Internacional del Cortometraje FIC, Buenos Aires, Argentina

September
Buffalo Niagara International Film Festival, Niagara Falls, New York
Switzerland International Film Festival, Aubonne, Switzerland

August
International Documentary Festival of Ierapetra, Crete, Greece

June
San Francisco Documentary Festival, SF DOCFEST, California
Pune Short Film Festival, Pune, India

May
Near Nazareth Festival, Nazareth, Israel
Polish International Film Festival, Warsaw
Docs Without Borders Film Festival, Nassau, Delaware, Exceptional Merit Awards in Human Spirit and in Editing

April
Ethnografilm Paris, Paris, France
EGU GeoCinema, Vienna, Austria

March
Albany FilmFest, Albany, California
Silk Road Film Festival, Dublin, Ireland
Peace On Earth Film Festival, Chicago, Illinois
Tlanchana Fest, Mecatepec, Mexico

February
International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema, London, UK

December 2016
AGU Cinema, American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, California

November
Auckland International Film Festival, Auckland, New Zealand
BLUE Ocean Film Festival, St. Petersburg, Florida
Kiwi International Film Festival, Auckland, New Zealand

October
Top Indie Film Awards, WINNER Best Documentary Short, La Jolla, California
Edinburgh Short Film Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland
Cabo Verde International Film Festival, Isla de Sal, Cabo Verde

September
Isle of Man Film Festival, Isle of Man
Bali International Film Festival, BALINALE, South Kuta Beach, Bali, Indonesia
Cyprus International Film Festival, Golden Aphrodite, Nicosia, Cyprus
TrueDoc Documentary Festival, Kiev, Ukraine

July
San Antonio Film Festival, SAFILM, San Antonio, Texas

Production Credits

Directed by ISAAC KERLOW
Featuring BACHTIAR ABDURRAHMAN, a.k.a. ICHIRO
Camera: DAVID LEE LING WEI, ISAAC KERLOW, CHEE KANG XIONG, TAN WENKAI
Field Sound: JEANNIE LOO
Edited by ISAAC KERLOW
Music by SERGIO MOURE
Maps: WANG XIN
Drawings: SHERYL AU
Assistant Editor: LINH DUONG
Digital Effects: MARK CHEUNG
Map Wave Animation: JEGANNATH RAMANUJAM
Sound Effects: LINH DUONG
Second Assistant Editor: ALICIA YANG
Colorist: CHARLIE TUCKER
Audio Re-Recording Mix: GABRIEL J. SERRANO
Additional Animation: SYMON CHONG
Translation: UDI DJAMIL, LENA FARSIA DJAMIL, YOSEPHINE LEOSAPUTRO, ANTOINETTE JADE
Production Coordination: YENNY RAHMAYATI, JEANNIE LOO, ANTOINETTE JADE
Drivers: JOPI, FARLIS
Produced by ISAAC KERLOW
SPECIAL THANKS: Abdul Halim, a.k.a. Edo, Saiful Mahdi, The People of Gampong Lam Badeuk, Kecamatan Peukan Bada in Aceh Besar, The City of Banda Aceh, Earth Observatory of Singapore, National Research Foundation, Ministry of Education, Nanyang Technological University, and ICAIOS at Universitas Syiah Kuala.