Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild]
Adam Khalil and Zack Khalil

Thursday August 6, 2026
Screening at 7:00pm with discussion to follow

Aupuni Space is pleased to present a community screening welcoming Ojibway artists Adam Khalil and Zack Khalil back for their second program with the gallery. The artists previously participated in the 2021 residency New Red Order: Out of Step, In Place, presented in collaboration with Koa Gallery and TRADES A.i.R.

Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild]
Directors: Adam Khalil (Ojibway), Zack Khalil (Ojibway)
Producers: Jacque Clark (Ojibway), Franny Alfano, Steve Holmgren, Grace Remington
Denmark/USA | 2026 | 80 min
English | Documentary Feature

Trapped in museum archives, Ancestors bend time and space to find their way home. History, spirituality, and the law collide as tribal repatriation specialists fight to return and rebury Indigenous human remains, exposing the pervasive worldviews that justified their collection.

Aanikoobijigan documents the vital work of the Michigan Anishinaabek Cultural Preservation and Repatriation Alliance (MACPRA), a group representing all Michigan tribes in the struggle to bring Ancestors and funerary objects back from settler-colonial institutions.

Adam and Zack Khalil’s formally daring film follows the pressing battle to rebury remains held in sterile storage, laying bare the history of stolen Indigenous collections and the fight to enforce repatriation laws. Through an essayistic approach and vérité portraits, the film celebrates the courageous individuals performing this emotionally draining labour of return, honouring those dedicated to restoring dignity and community to their Ancestors.