While many Indigenous cultures share a belief that ancestors walk among their descendants, the concept is taken literally in L’nu filmmaker Bretten Hannam’s feature film Sk+te’kmujue’katik (At the Place of Ghosts), which opened across Canada on May 8.
The ambitious genre-bending story follows two once-close Mi’kmaq brothers who are pulled back together when an evil spirit appears in their lives. To confront their traumatic past, they must enter Sk+te’kmujue’katik, a forest where time is fluid and they encounter their past selves, ancestors, colonial enemies and even future generations.
“The sentiment with this story is how powerful it would be if there was a place you could experience all the people who came before you and who are all moving through you, guiding and supporting you,” explained Hannam.
Like Hannam’s 2021 coming-of-age film Wildhood, which earned significant award and festival success, Sk+te’kmujue’katik focuses on two-spirit and Mi’kmaw identity in Kespukwitk, L’nuekati (Nova Scotia). However, the story submerges identity politics in supernatural elements and an immersive forest setting.
“Filming in a real forest was a real challenge,” said Hannam. “It can change the scenes drastically depending on the weather, but sometimes light will come through the leaves in a magical awe-inspiring moment you wouldn’t be able to capture anywhere else.”
Hannam worked with Wildhood cinematographer Guy Godfree to capture the forest’s mysterious beauty and power. Spirits are rendered in ways that don’t disturb the film’s dreamy wonder, such as a glowing gateway in the woods and insects hovering in slow motion.
“It’s not Wildhood, which had so much hand-held energy,” asserted Hannan. “This is very smooth and controlled, a little eerie at times. We’re there with the viewer in the forest and through the camera we’re hopefully imparting not only beautiful cinematography but also the strangeness.”
The cinematography is superb, convincingly weaving together elements of horror, fantasy and Indigenous folklore. Blake Alec Miranda and Forrest Goodluck carry the story admirably as the estranged brothers while Hannam leaves space to ponder the ominous imagery amid vibrant surroundings.
Elders in supporting roles bring wisdom and warmth that contrast the chills of a malevolent spirit that vanishes in scattered leaves after leaving its grisly mark. Throughout the film, the supernatural is made believable by its basis in Mi’kmaq spirituality. Connecting the land’s pain with colonial disruption lends a deeper dimension to the concept of disturbed spirits.
Since beginning work on the film 11 years ago, Hannam consulted with community members, exchanging stories and rewriting lines in Mi’kmaw. Actors perfected pronunciation with language experts. Hannam said there’s an actual place called Sk+te’kmujue’katik in the territory with associated teachings related to the Milky Way.
“The dark spirit idea is very much based on the connection of the characters with the land that goes back to time immemorial,” Hannam said. “The forest is in a way giving a path from this trauma. When they heal, then they can begin to heal the land.”
Wolastoqiyik musician Jeremy Dutcher’s first film score steadily builds tension through dissonant tones and archival recordings of Mi’kmaq voices. As the brothers accompany ancestors up a mountain, Dutcher’s serene vocals are heard for the first time.
“We were very fortunate to use one of Jeremy’s songs at the end of Wildhood,” recalled Hannam. “In Belgium doing the sound mixing, we’d get stuff from Jeremy and make it all flow together, send him back stuff to listen to and he would respond. It shows in the way the music is integrated into everything. It’s outstanding. It’s magic.”
The film’s score relies on woodwinds and strings to convey drama and magic, reflecting Dutcher’s understanding that “the land was a prominent voice in this.” Unique sounds emanate from Naomi McCarroll-Butler’s custom-made drone flutes linked to a bass clarinet and from drummer Mili Hong striking cymbals as they are dunked in water.
A character emphasizes that “time is unfixed” as the brothers’ journey proceeds toward a final reckoning with family trauma. Actor Glen Gould, who plays the father, said, “This is a story about letting go and releasing those ghosts.”
Named one of Canada’s Top 10 at last September’s Toronto International Film Festival, the film picked up best feature, cinematographer and original score at the Atlantic International Film Festival.
“One day you have to face these traumatic events that have been buried,” said Hannam. “It’s the right time for this to happen. We’re probably not going into the forest to face off with monsters, but maybe we are.”