34 minutes, HD video, 2026

A dispatch from the back-room of a museum. The ghost of a long-dead orangutan returns to narrate early 20th century propaganda films documenting Sumatra’s plantations. She recounts acts of resistance of those, human and non-human, who came before and after her. ‘We like all people want to live, and to be free’.

The first iteration of this film is at the Eye Filmmuseum, the Netherlands, as part of the group exhibition Eye(s) Open – New Perspectives on Colonial Film Heritage, April – September 2026 .

If you would like to support the development of this project, please get in touch.

Researched, written and edited by Miranda Pennell     
Composer Simon Fisher Turner
Made with support from Eye Filmmuseum, the Netherlands