The invisible floating island of Kia Kai is a complex, multi-layered story that blends elements of drama, magical realism, and environmental themes. Set on the mysterious, invisible floating island of Kia Kai, the story follows Diana, a young doctor who wants to return her mother’s ashes to the island of her birth. 

The story is a woven rich tapestry of unique characters and cultures and the exploration of the island’s mythology and magic within this visually striking, naturally unnatural world of family, community, and environmental issues.

LOG-LINE:

After her mother, Lillian, dies, Diana embarks on a journey of discovery to the mysterious Island of Kia Kai. She soon realises that it is not paradise.

SYNOPSIS: 

After her mother, Lillian, passes away, Diana, a young doctor, discovers a secret while packing up her belongings when she finds a wooden trunk in the back of a closet. In it, she uncovers a colourful blanket, a large blue crystal, photos, and other items depicting her mother’s past. Months later, she sees a blanket similar to Lillian’s hanging on a fishing boat on the pier. She approaches Joey, the boat’s captain, and asks him where the blanket came from. He tells her it belongs to Mama, who lives on the island of Kia Kai. Diana tells him that she thinks her mother is from there and wants to spread her ashes on the island; she offers to pay Joey if he agrees to take her.  As they sail the ocean, Diana is shocked and angry about the pollution in the water. Joey tells her that it comes from passing ships and foreign fishing boats and is the reason why the dolphins and whales no longer swim beside his boat.

Above the island’s blue grotto caves and high upon the cliffs, Joey introduces Diana to Mama, the older woman who founded the cave community on Kia Kai.  When Diana shows her the photos, Mama realises that she is Lilian’s daughter. Diana learns her mother was part of the island’s tribal council. Thirty years earlier, Mama’s estranged son, Hunter, told Lillian of his plan to turn off the lighthouse and salvage the ship’s cargo by taking advantage of the ship’s wrecking on the rocks. Lillian was angry with him, and they fought. Her crystal necklace fell to the ground and broke when she pulled away from Hunter. Taking a secret with her, Lillian left the island with her broken Crystal, and the lighthouse shut off, dividing the island. Hunter became an angry, mean, greedy man after Lilian left him, and he corrupted the island. Mama and Harry moved most of the Islanders to the caves on the far side of Kia Kai and established a peaceful community. They built and survived using the vast amount of resources from the shipwrecks of thirty years.

After Lillian’s ashes are scattered, the elder women, Mama, Arial, and Terra, invite Diana to stay on Kia Kai.  When Mama and Diana tend to the highland people after a Demon dog attack, they find a young, nonverbal girl tied up as bait. The villagers tell them her name is Belle because of the bells around her ankle that warn them when Malo, the giant blue spider who raised her, is nearby. Mama and Diana take Belle back to the cave community, where she quickly adjusts, learning to speak by singing words, and becoming a favourite of the Cave children. 

Diana and Joey become close, and she decides to stay on the island to set up a medical clinic. With the help of Joey and other islanders, they built the clinic using beached shipping containers and created beds and chairs from recycled plastic bottles dredged from the sea.

There’s a devastating underwater volcano eruption on a nearby island that wreaks havoc, causing many injuries and making Sky Island uninhabitable. After the storm, Belle rescues a large snake that washes up on Kia Kai from angry islanders. The snake is able to transform into a man named Kalai, who is cursed and can’t remember where he came from. Eventually, he recalls that he was a veterinarian from a far-off land. When he and Belle fall in love and marry, his curse is broken. They set up a vet clinic and become active community members. At the beginning of Diana’s new life on Kia Kai, an island of Mystery and adventure, she discovered that nothing is as expected. Still, it is full of magic and unpredictability.

*AWARDS