Five Minutes of Film. Ninety Minutes of Conversation.

7/1/2026

Six weeks after Timor-Leste’s first community freediving festival, Topu Ramutu returned to Dili for two community ocean evenings, and showed that the conversations sparked on Ataúro Island were only just beginning.

The documentary lasted just five minutes. The conversation afterwards lasted an hour and a half.

That’s when I realised we’d created something much bigger than a film.

Six weeks after Topu Ramutu (“Dive Together”), Timor-Leste’s first community freediving festival on Ataúro Island, we brought the story back to Dili through two community screenings: one as part of Beachside Hotel & Café’s Movies at the Beach series and another at Kios Matenek as part of International Ocean Month.

Topu Ramutu had brought 39 people — 26 Timorese and 13 international participants from six countries — together in Adara from 1–3 May 2026 for three days of freediving, learning, conservation, cultural exchange and plenty of fun.

More than half of the participants received partial sponsorship support, helping young Timorese freedivers and ocean enthusiasts take part alongside experienced local and international freedivers.

The programme ranged from line and fun diving, safety and equalisation training to yoga, breathwork, underwater photography, fish identification, conservation discussions, night diving and a rather entertaining underwater obstacle course. But maximum depth was never the point.

Connection was ... Connection with the ocean, with each other, and with the people of Adara who welcomed us into their community.

We heard about Adara’s locally managed Tara Bandu marine conservation system from Xefi Aldeia Sr. Joao da Costa and learnt from Wawata Topu, Adara’s internationally recognised women spearfishers, about their relationship with the ocean and their experience challenging traditional gender roles.

The gathering also marked the launch of Freediving Timor-Leste, a collaborative community initiative created to connect the country’s growing freediving community and support future training, events and ocean awareness.

The five-minute documentary captured just a little of those three days.

Bringing it back to Dili was our chance to keep the conversation going

When five minutes turns into 90

At Kios Matenek, around 40 people, the majority Timorese, joined us for an evening of short films about freediving and ocean conservation.

And then we started talking.

The conversation flowed from freediving and ocean safety to conservation, tourism, education and community. People shared experiences, challenged ideas, asked questions and reflected on their own relationship with the sea.

Ninety minutes later, we were still going.

For me, that was one of the strongest indications that Topu Ramutu had achieved something beyond the three days we spent together on Ataúro.

It had sparked curiosity. New relationships had formed. And people wanted to keep talking about what could happen next. That’s how movements grow.

From freediving to supporting Adara’s school

The evening also gave us the opportunity to close another important loop from Topu Ramutu.

We formally presented US$710 raised through the festival to Maun Mario from Adara to support the village’s new primary school.

Just days before Topu Ramutu, we weren’t even sure we could fund all the participant scholarships. Making the festival accessible to Timorese participants had been important to us from the beginning, and the majority of participants needed financial support to attend.

Thanks to an overwhelming response from supporters, we exceeded our fundraising target and were able to invest the surplus back into the community that had welcomed us.

Mario later shared that the US$710 would be used to paint the walls of the new school.

There is another part of this story that I particularly love: the school itself has been built with funds raised through tourism. Visitors who came to experience Adara and Ataúro have collectively helped the community build something for the next generation.

It’s a small but powerful example of what tourism can contribute when local communities are not simply the backdrop to an experience, but part of its purpose and benefit.

The ripple effects continue

When we first imagined Topu Ramutu, we hoped people would leave feeling more connected to the ocean.

What I didn’t expect was how quickly it would start connecting people with each other.

Looking around the room at Kios Matenek put a huge smile on my face. We had created a space where people who care about Timor-Leste’s ocean could meet, exchange ideas, inspire one another and begin imagining what might be possible together.

For me, that’s where conservation begins.

And there is enormous potential here.

Timor-Leste has warm tropical waters, extraordinary marine biodiversity, healthy coral reefs, deep drop-offs close to shore and a rich local ocean culture. Topu Ramutu gave us a glimpse of what could be possible if freediving and sustainable marine tourism continue to grow in ways that put safety, local participation, community benefit and ocean stewardship at their heart.

Topu Ramutu may have lasted three days. The community and conversations it helped create are lasting considerably longer.

And we’re only just getting started.

It took a community to make this happen

Topu Ramutu was a collaborative, not-for-profit initiative organised by Freediving Timor-Leste, Inspired by Nature, RainbowFlow Yoga, Underwater Cinema, Lenuk Tasi and Mario’s Place Adara, with the support of volunteers, community members, individual donors and ocean advocates.

A huge thank you to the organising team who gave their time, energy, expertise and enthusiasm to make it happen:

Birgit Hermann, Jesse Harries, Rebecca Brown, Denilson Monteiro, Simão Do Santos C J Dos Reis, Eljovio Lopes Emilio Nai Bucar, Emanuel Rosario Nheu Brito, Joaozinho Dedito Martins, Jeovanio Dos Santos Ribeiro, Silvester Mahon Pereira de Oliveira, Profirio Jose da Costa, Frederico de F. P. Sobral, Robby Ornai, Andy Miller and Mario Gomez.

And, of course, thank you to the people of Adara for welcoming us into their community and sharing their ocean, knowledge and home with us.