Oceanbone

Watch Movie

Oceanbone

"Stolen ancestors lie in museum vaults, waiting to return home."

2025

0h 9m

0.0(0 votes)

Documentary

Overview

A short film detailing the journey and prospects of returning the skeletons of indigenous peoples' ancestors back to their homeland.

Links & Resources

Website IMDbView

Social & External

IMDb

Production Companies

The people behind it

Cast & crew

2 featured cast members

Starring

Lani Cupchoy

Self, Kanaka Maoli Ancestor (voice)

Joey Quenga

Self, Chamoru Ancestor (voice)

Creative team

Directed by: Lani Cupchoy
Written by: Lani Cupchoy
Produced by: Lani Cupchoy

Similar Movies

A Land Without Shadows

The Guarani people have searched for a land without shadows for a hundred years. The beauty in their home is precious and undeniable, but climate change threatens to ruin this special place.

Movie

2025

Atharaka

What does it mean to be of a place? Of the sun and soil and bees, of the water and black ants and cowpeas. To be so entangled with an ecosystem, generation after generation, that nature and culture become one? Clans living in Tharaka, Kenya, have been subjected to colonialism and all that follows. Their indigeneity unthreaded by a powerful few pulling the world apart for profit. But Atharaka – ‘those of Tharaka’ – are remembering the power in their identity. Beside the Kithino River, they are reviving customs and enabling nature to regenerate: rethreading a complex biocultural system that brings balance, autonomy, and joy.

Movie

2023

Bancoco

A New Yorker journeys to the jungle in the Darien Gap of Panama to reconnect with an indigenous tribe he met and photographed 20 years ago. Their reunion highlights the profound power of photos and the human connection that transcends cultural barriers.

Movie

10.0

My Death Dog

Photo poetry of Bunchanawingʉmʉ Jesús Camilo Niño Izquierdo' piece of lost feelings in the Arhuaco Indigenous Reservation, northern Colombia.

Movie

2023

Ozogoche

Cuviví is the Ecuadorean indigenous name for the upland sandpiper, a wading bird that has special significance for the communities living around the Ozogoche lakes in the middle of the Andes. Each year, these birds migrate south from North America. Around September they pass the Ozogoche lakes, where large numbers then “commit suicide,” plunging from great heights into the ice-cold water. A girl lives near the lake. Her uncle lives in the US, and she might be heading there herself. In the meantime, she awaits the arrival of the cuvivís, few of which have appeared in recent years. The lakes are drying up.

Movie

2025

Rangers Look After the Desert 'Healthy Country'

In November 2024, two Indigenous ranger teams set out on a 1,900-kilometre journey from the remote community of Bidyadanga in Western Australia to Uluru. Their destination: the largest gathering of Indigenous desert rangers in Australia — the Indigenous Desert Alliance Conference.

Movie

2017

Through the Repellent Fence: A Land Art Film

The film follows Postcommodity, an interdisciplinary arts collective comprised of Raven Chacon, Cristóbal Martinez and Kade L. Twist, who put land art in a tribal context. The group bring together a community to construct the Repellent Fence, a two-mile long ephemeral monument “stitching” together the US and Mexico.

Movie

8.0

2022

The Power of Activism

This film takes us on an emotional journey from sacred ground above Byron Bay to Antarctica, Indonesia to Pakistan, and is sure to light a fire under the strongest climate change denier. THE POWER OF ACTIVISM focuses on six highly spirited female activists as they are put under the microscope to ascertain the financial impact of their environmental solutions… and the results are astonishing. From shark conservation to indigenous practices, intensive farming to plastic pollution; all their ‘causes' fall under the umbrella of "climate change", but they should also fall under the umbrella of "saving tax payers hundreds of millions of dollars!”

Movie

2009

Monumento a Uruçumirim

Manifesto of the Pataxó tribe, with the testimony of the chief José Guajajara, in front of the Monument to Estácio de Sá, where the Tamoios massacre took place in 1567, on the coincident day that celebrates the foundation of the city of Rio de Janeiro, 20 January.

Movie

1985

Señor Turista - Begegnungen am Tititacasee

Documentary about how indigenous culture and the achievements of modern tourism intertwine.

Movie

2024

Toroboro: The Name of the Plants

A botanical expedition in Ecuador's Amazon becomes a medium for an indigenous Huaorani community to remember the genocidal colonization it suffered in the 1960s. Meanwhile, a group of ecologists from the capital tries to stop oil exploitation in the last remaining forests where the isolated Huaoranis still live, who to this day refuse to come into contact with civilization.

Movie

2.0

1979

Q'eros: The Shape of Survival

Exploration of the way of life of the Q’eros Indians of Peru, who have lived in the Andes for more than 3,000 years.

Movie

2024

Phoenix

With its moving personal approach, careful artistic direction, and inspired sound design, this skillfully symbolic work embodies the importance of transmission.

Movie

9.0

2017

The Road Forward

The Road Forward is an electrifying musical documentary that connects a pivotal moment in Canada’s civil rights history—the beginnings of Indian Nationalism in the 1930s—with the powerful momentum of First Nations activism today. Interviews and musical sequences describe how a tiny movement, the Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood, grew to become a successful voice for change across the country. Visually stunning, The Road Forward seamlessly connects past and present through superbly produced story-songs with soaring vocals, blues, rock, and traditional beats.

Movie

2021

Ainu Neno An Ainu

This documentary started as part of a photography project about the indigenous Ainu population in northern Japan, portraying people from tightly knit communities. They feel deeply connected by their culture and tradition. With gorgeous pictures, the directors explore how different generations of Ainu reflect on their identity after centuries of oppression.

Movie

10.0

2019

Antonio y Piti

Thirty years ago, a rubber company enslaved a group of Asháninka people, manipulating them into tapping the trees in the lush borderland between Peru and Brazil. The company was expelled by a coalition of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, led by one mixed race couple. Now the adult children of this marriage combat political corruption and ongoing environmental disaster.

Movie

7.5

2022

For Love

In this searing documentary, Indigenous people share heartbreaking stories that reveal the injustices inflicted by the Canadian child welfare system.

Movie

7.0

2021

The Return

It’s spring in the Ecuadorian Amazon and the Uyantza festival is underway with the community celebrating all that the forest has to offer. Meanwhile, news is breaking around the world that a novel virus is spreading and a state of emergency is declared across the country. As people test positive for COVID-19 in the community, some families decide to leave and head deeper into the jungle. Disconnected from school, friends, the internet, and work, one family learns to reconnect with life in the forest. The children begin to unlearn the national curriculum, and instead are taught Indigenous knowledge that mainstream schools normally pass over. As COVID-19 wreaks havoc around the planet, the family reconnect to their ancestral ways, but as news arrives that Ecuador’s lockdown will end soon, will the family choose to return?

Movie

9.0

1963

Attiuk

The people of Unamenshipu (La Romaine), an Innu community in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, are seen but not heard in this richly detailed documentary about the rituals surrounding an Innu caribou hunt. Released in 1960, it’s one of 13 titles in Au Pays de Neufve-France, a series of poetic documentary shorts about life along the St. Lawrence River. Off-camera narration, written by Pierre Perrault, frames the Innu participants through an ethnographic lens. Co-directed by René Bonnière and Perrault, a founding figure of Quebec’s direct cinema movement.

Movie

1999

My Village in Nunavik

Shot during three seasons, Kenuajuak's documentary tenderly portrays village life and the elements that forge the character of his people: their history, the great open spaces and their unflagging humour. Though Kenuajuak appreciates the amenities of southern civilization that have made their way north, he remains attached to the traditional way of life and the land: its vast tundra, the sea teeming with Arctic char, the sky full of Canada geese. My Village in Nunavik is an unsentimental film by a young Inuk who is open to the outside world but clearly loves his village. With subtitles.

Movie

Recommended Movies

8.2

1992

Baraka

A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.

Movie

6.5

2015

Dawg Fight

In a crime-plagued neighborhood near Miami, brutal, bare-knuckled backyard fights give young men a chance to earn money -- and self-respect.

Movie

6.5

2015

Finders Keepers

In this documentary, recovering addict and amputee John Wood finds himself in a stranger-than-fiction battle to reclaim his mummified leg from Southern entrepreneur Shannon Whisnant, who found it in a grill he bought at an auction and believes it therefore to be his rightful property.

Movie

8.0

2025

My Mom Jayne

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

Movie

7.0

2022

Sidney

This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.

Movie

8.3

2026

S4: The Bob Lazar Story

Over 35 years after Bob Lazar's revelations, this documentary exposes secrets of a facility the government still denies. Featuring Lazar's testimony, recreations, and new evidence, it reopens a case that continues to spark global curiosity

Movie

7.0

2013

Girl Rising

Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.

Movie

6.2

2019

Aquaman: Heroines of Atlantis

Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman discuss their characters Mera and Atlanna.

Movie

7.9

2025

John Candy: I Like Me

Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.

Movie

7.1

2023

Unknown: Cave of Bones

Scientists examine underground clues from over 250,000 years ago that raise questions about our early relatives — and what it truly means to be human.

Movie

7.2

2022

Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20

An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.

Movie

7.3

2024

The Menendez Brothers

Serving life in prison for murdering their parents, Lyle and Erik Menendez speak out in this documentary explaining the shocking crime and ensuing trials.

Movie

7.2

2004

In the Realms of the Unreal

In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.

Movie

Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story

6.2

2025

Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story

Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.

Movie

7.8

2021

Being James Bond

Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

Movie

7.7

2026

Ghost Elephants

In Angola's mist-shrouded highlands, three KhoiSan master trackers embark on a spiritual quest to rediscover the legendary "ghost elephants" of Lisima, creatures presumed lost but remembered in ancestral trance, ritual, and memory.

Movie

8.7

2026

Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition

With unprecedented access to the official archives and intimate recollections from the band, both current and past, Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition invites fans to experience one of the most iconic journeys in music history. Spanning five decades, this electrifying documentary charts the band’s rise from the pubs of East London to the world’s biggest stadiums. Featuring exclusive interviews with band members and contributors such as Javier Bardem, Lars Ulrich and Chuck D, as well as all-new animated sequences of the band's legendary mascot, Eddie, the film offers a rare and intimate look at Iron Maiden’s uncompromising vision and unwavering connection with their truly global army of fans.

Movie

5.9

2025

Trainwreck: The Real Project X

A night of drunken chaos rocks a quiet Dutch town in this shocking documentary about a teen's birthday invite that accidentally went viral on Facebook.

Movie

7.2

2010

180° South

The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.

Movie

7.4

2019

Love, Antosha

From a prolific career in film and television, Anton Yelchin left an indelible legacy as an actor. Through his journals and other writings, his photography, the original music he wrote, and interviews with his family, friends, and colleagues, this film looks not just at Anton's impressive career, but at a broader portrait of the man.

Movie