Black Snow is a significant moment for Australian South Sea Islanders, who form a significant part of the community in far-north Queensland but have so far been largely ignored in popular culture.

Black Snow’s fictional storyline revolves around the murder of 17 year old Isabel Baker in the small township of Ashford a quarter of a century ago. The crime shocked the tight-knit country town and devastated Isabel’s Australian South Sea Islander community. The case was never solved and the killer never found.

When a time capsule is unearthed at the local high school in the present day, it plunges the town back into the past and the unsolved cold case of Isabel.

Travis Fimmel stars as Detective James Cormack on the trail of the killer, alongside newcomers Talijah Blackman-Corowa, Jemmason Power and Molly Fatowna, and familiar names such as Brooke Satchwell, Kym Gyngell, Alexander England and Erik Thomson. The series also features the screen debut of Australian music sensation Ziggy Ramo.

Black Snow, named for the smoke and ash that blows when sugar cane is burnt, was created by Lucas Taylor, who was also behind the successful show Harrow.

Jemmason Power, who plays the adult version of Isabel’s younger sister Hazel, said she feels Black Snow is a turning point in the portrayal of Australian South Sea Islander people.

“For me, it highlights and puts a massive spotlight on the amazing matriarchs of South Sea Islander women, and South Sea Islander families,” Power said.

“I think it brings this beautiful mix of both our power, our value in family, faith, love and it’s just a beautiful piece all wrapped up in a really good story.

“And look, I think it’s going to be hard to call us the forgotten people after this show.”

While Molly Fatnowna, who plays Hazel as a teenager, said the respect the producers of Black Snow showed for their cultural heritage throughout production was pivotal.

“It’s so good to see our culture being brought through and shown to Australia, and I feel like it really touched on who our people are, and what they went through,” Fatnowna said. “It was just such a good experience.

“I feel like it’s a really good series to not only educate people, but show people that we are a part of Australia as well. And it just really represents our culture in such a beautiful and lovely way as well as also telling a story about what we were put through.”

Director Sian Davies said the weaving together of the story of the cold case mystery with the story of Australian South Sea Islanders, involved a deep commitment to working alongside the community, collaborating at every stage from research to the writers’ room, and through filming and post-production.

“It’s incredibly important to find an international stage, not just a national stage, to talk about the history of Australian South Sea Islander people,” Davies said.

“We’ve managed to find an incredible cast, 12 Australian South Sea Islanders who had never acted before, but who were inspired to share their story, and their community with us. And the performances are extraordinary. And I think it’s a completely unique way for the community to tell the story in their voice.”

She said having a story told by this significant but overlooked group of Australians, would hopefully address the hesitancy many have to learn about this aspect of Australian history.

“I think in addition to hesitancy, is actually just ignorance,” Davies said.

“Scott Morrison can say that there was never any slavery in Australia, but that doesn’t make it true.

“I think this show is in a way a Trojan horse, because Lucas (Taylor) and Goalpost Pictures have created this incredibly crafted murder mystery story that is on its own merits, very gripping and entertaining. But it will introduce the community, both in Australia and to the international audience, to issues that, I think, we really need to shine a light on and start talking about.”

The score throughout Black Snow is also crucial, with Ziggy Ramo (who also appears in the series as Ezekiel) and composer Jed Palmer joining forces. The music they recorded includes a song the director Sian Davies first heard during her research, still sung every day on Tanna Island, which warns people to be afraid of Australians.

Ramo and Palmer travelled to Tanna Island, to meet with the community and record their music and sounds from their environment, such as the rumbling of a volcano. Ramo said the resulting songs, music and sounds were used in the soundtrack with the permission of the community.

“Auntie Kaylene Butler, who’s a producer and such a pivotal part of Black Snow – where we were staying in the village is where her direct descendant, the chief was stolen and blackbirded from,” Ramo said.

“There was this really symbiotic thing where there were songlines that were performed to us about him seeing their family being taken, but prophesying about their family returning.

“So for Auntie Kaylene to go back, it was like a closing of the loop. And that’s the thing is, it’s so much bigger than this – it’s impacting people’s lives.

“I think it’s not just about seeing us, it’s about hearing us, feeling us. And by being able to have authentic representation, which is so deeply rooted to everything that is Black Snow, I think it’s setting a precedent of when you tell our stories you tell it wholly and completely. So yeah, it’s been such a joy.”

Palmer said composing collaboratively with Ramo in this way was “a very special and meaningful journey”.

“We started out actually travelling to Tanna in Vanuatu, Tanna Island, and we were welcomed there by the community and Chief Jeffrey,” Palmer said.

“We were able to record some traditional songs and traditional instruments. And then take what we’ve recorded, with the greatest amount of respect to the Tanna people, and we have this beautiful score. We’ve been very fortunate, and it’s been very special.”

Alexander England, who plays the older Anton in Black Snow, said the production had been a real learning opportunity for him.

“Trying to learn a bit more about the Indigenous history here and all the things that colonisation did, it’s a pretty hard and important story, and to learn that there are other blind spots that I had,” England said.

“It was central to the show that everybody knew a bit about what we were talking about and what’s at the core of the series, which the show has something important to say about the impact of aspects of this Australian setting, Australian history. So I was really proud.

“It’s so beautiful to work on something that really has something to say, something that we can be really proud of and I’m excited for people to see it.”