A mythological children's tale about the friendship between a deaf mute boy, Jonasi, and a rare white turtle.

This is a story of a South Seas island village. The villagers find a baby that had been set adrift. The villagers are warned of the dangers of keeping the child. The young boy is ridiculed by many of the villagers because he can not talk, but he can communicate with the sea turtles. Based on the Joy Cowley novel.—Dave Parry <[email protected]>

The Silent One is a mythological children's feature film about the friendship between a deaf mute boy, Jonasi, and a rare white turtle. The details Somewhere between fact and fiction, superstition and the supernatural, lies the story of Jonasi the "Silent One". Jonasi (Telo Malase) is a uniquely gifted young Polynesian man sent from the sea as a baby to grow up in an isolated Pacific village. Separated from the villagers by his silence and their prejudices, he finds solace in his underwater world. Adapted by Ian Mune from a Joy Cowley story, The Silent One is a magical tale echoing the rhythms and legends of the Pacific, of village life, and of the sea; it is filmed in the Cook Islands, on an idyllic coral atoll representing a mythical Polynesian island. The beloved film is the first New Zealand dramatic feature directed by a woman (Yvonne Mackay).