Synopsis
A woman’s connection to her mother in the spirit world reactivates Taíno culture and presence, revealing a realm unseen. Meanwhile, amidst a backdrop of flowers everywhere, an ancestral act of sovereignty extends into the future. Filmed on Super 8 and developed by hand with plant medicines and botanicals, Spirit Emulsion evokes a language for Taíno filmmaking in relationship to the earth and cosmos, breathing an ancestral connection into new form.
A word from Tënk
Siku Allooloo’s Spirit Emulsion begins with the retelling of a vision, through which the filmmaker learned of her mother’s passing. What follows is a dreamlike flow of image, voice and sound—our guides through spirit realms. Allooloo generously invites us to witness her most intimate connections: with culture, lineage and ancestral knowledge. At the center of this kinship web is her mother, whose Taíno teachings and practices persist despite colonial attempts at distortion and erasure. “You swaddled us with Haitian folklore, Creole songs that fascinated, frightened, made us feel loved, protected and strong, ensuring courage; ensuring deep roots even [through] distance. Even though they still tell us we are extinct, we live on.”
In contemplating her mother’s life and sharing their relationship through film, Allooloo gives form to Indigenous sovereignty and challenges us to recognize that we are only one part of a greater, wiser whole. She says: “I’ve come to know that who we are is an essence, unbreakable and profound.”
Sarah Bakke
Director of Development and Special Programs
DOXA Documentary Film Festival
