The 2026 Macon Film Festival opening night film is presented in partnership with the Firestarters Film Festival with support from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. A moderated panel discussion will follow the screening of the film.
TITLE: Defend the Sacred, Preserve the Past DIRECTORS: Jason Salsman, Muscogee (Creek) Nation Communications Department SYNOPSIS: This short film shows the Muscogee Nation's fight for justice at the sacred site of Hickory Ground, a ceremonial and burial site, where ancestors were dug up to make way for the construction of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians' Wind Creek Casino in Wetumpka, AL. Leader of Hickory Ground Mekko George Thompson shares his heartfelt account of what this struggle has meant to him and it's foray into the legal realm. The film closes, with a different approach to handling and preserving the past, with a thoughtful and intimate visit to the British Museum in London from Muscogee leaders. The two films converge to show the irony of the Muscogee people having to travel an ocean away to receive respect for the past and what's sacred.
TITLE: Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild] DIRECTORS: Adam Khalil, Zack Khalil TRT: 80:00 COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA / Denmark SYNOPSIS: AANIKOOBIJIGAN [ANCESTOR/GREAT-GRANDPARENT/GREAT-GRANDCHILD] documents the emotional and vital work of MACPRA (Michigan Anishinaabek Cultural Preservation and Repatriation Alliance). This alliance, made up of repatriation specialists representing all Michigan tribes, fights to bring their Ancestors and funerary objects home from settler colonial institutions like museums, libraries, and archives.
Adam and Zack Khalil’s monumental and formally daring film follows the pressing struggle to rebury Indigenous human remains that have been held in sterile storage, laying bare the history of Indigenous collections and the battle to recognize and enforce the laws intended to facilitate their repatriation to the communities they were originally stolen from. Using an essayistic approach alongside vérité portraits, the film celebrates the courageous individuals who carry out this hard and emotionally draining labor of return.
GUESTS: Information coming soon.
All Access pass holders are invited to attend a special pre-film reception prior to the venue doors opening at 7:15pm. More information to come!
Thursday August 20, 2026 7:45pm - 9:00pm EDT Theatre Macon438 Cherry Street, Macon, GA 31201
