Isabel Baker is a local Ashford teenager who is about to graduate from high school and take off on a road trip with her best friend.
But on the night of her school formal, she is murdered.
The small town and its close South Sea Islander community are shaken. The crime is never solved, and the murderer is on the loose.
In 2019 when a detective shows up to try and solve the cold case, Isabel's family edge closer to the truth of what really happened that night.
This six-part series 'Black Snow' set in North Queensland, spotlights the history of 'blackbirding', the practice of luring and coercing South Sea Islanders into forced labour in North Queensland.
Producers and writers of the show were committed to telling the story properly and in consultation with the community.
Casting agents looked for descendants of people stolen from the South Sea Islands to play the main and supporting roles.
Led by Travis Fimmell (Vikings) as Detective Sergeant James Cormack, the cast features the major screen debuts of Aboriginal/South Sea Islanders actors including Talijah Blackman-Corowa as Isabel Baker, Jemmason Power as Hazel Baker and musician Ziggy Ramo as Zeke.
Kaylene Butler, a direct descendant of a chief from Vanuatu who was stolen from a beach and brought to Australia to work in the sugarcane fields, led the consultation and education of the entire production staff.
She also helped writers develop the story based on her own family's history.
Blackman-Corowa said that having that cultural immersion provided made the experience of telling these stories through film less daunting.
"That was really helpful for us Australian South Islanders to know that everyone on set has an understanding of what's happened, and that created a more peaceful and safe environment for us to relax a bit more," she told NITV.
But there was one week that was particularly tough on the 21-year-old actor.
"There were some intense scenes and I was even having nightmares," she explained.
"Luckily we had my dramaturge Nadia Townson. She helped me tap in and out of scenes and leave that space behind, or leave (the character of) Isabel there and then walk out in a healthy way."
For Ramo, having that cultural integrity and truth-telling in the series was a drawcard for him.
In what he describes as "the role of a lifetime", Ramo plays Zeke, a young immigrant worker from Vanuatu.
"(The creators of the show) were in writing rooms while ," he said.
So it just felt like there was a real time and urgency in telling this story
He also felt the groundbreaking opportunity of playing these characters with the other newcomers on set and praised their work.
"It's their first time acting, and they're carrying the burden of being leads in this very weighty and trauma-filled story and they're just putting it on their backs and they're absolute superstars," he said.
Truth-telling through music
Best known for his own music, Ramo is also a co-creator of the series' score.
Alongside Australian South Sea Islander composer Jed Palmer, Ramo pitched the idea of using the score as another avenue for truth-telling.
Ramo travelled with Butler to her ancestral homelands.
"The score has incorporated recordings from Tanna island, from the direct family and descendants of who this story is based upon," he explained.
"That's so powerful. Obviously this is an entertaining murder mystery, which is great in every aspect. But if you want to dig a little bit deeper, there are literal song lines about blackbirding in this show."
Ziggy Ramo makes his onscreen debut in new thriller series Black Snow set in North Queensland
"The first voice you hear as Hazel Baker drives into town is Chief Jeffrey himself singing in his wife's language, welcoming us to this world," said Ramo.
For Butler, the series is a gateway for audiences to learn more about Australian South Sea Islander people.
“It would make me very happy for people to have more understanding of who we are and where we come from and also that we can all live here in Australia in unity, knowing our history," she said.
"To walk in our shoes for a day."
Ramo is winding down a huge year, and preparing for an even bigger one in 2023, with a new album set to drop. The debut single features Alice Skye and a video clip directed by Blackman-Corowa, with footage from the series.
Written in 2019, the single called 'Sugar Coated Lies' was the artist's own exploration of his South Sea Islander heritage.
"As the forgotten people, the whole concept of the album was to bury the stories in the way that they've been buried in history," he explained.
"So the album feels like these diary entries about breakups or love songs. And commercial sounding, sugarcoating it in the way that we've sugarcoated history.
"So, I'd written this album and it had been sitting there, so when the (Black Snow) project came about, it was almost haunting."
All episodes of Black Snow will premiere on New Year's Day on Stan.
