As one Michigan tribal organization works to repatriate ancestral remains, the filmmakers probe the role of cultural institutions and archival collections, while holding space for collective mourning.
Director: Adam Khalil & Zachary Khalil
Runtime: 85
Fest Year: 2026
In this vital record, Adam Khalil (Halpate, T/F 2021) and Zach Khalil invite us to embrace time as a spiral and contemplate the cosmovision of Indigenous peoples. Through poignant essayistic passages, sit-down interviews, animations, and spiritual meditations, the brother directing duo crafts a layered and timely document that questions the authority of museum archives. Can these institutions exist without imprisoning sacred objects and ancestral remains? Winner of Sundance’s NEXT section Audience Award, Aanikoobijigan [ancestor / great-grandparent / great-grandchild] offers a deeply affecting meditation on repatriation, lingering grief, and the restorative power of dignity as a human right—revealing the violence endured by Indigenous communities under outdated curatorial practices. (AT)