This historical-philosophical film traces transformative cross-cultural dialogues in 1690s Quebec between Kondiaronk, a visionary Wendat leader, and the French Baron de Lahontan. Framed as “cosmopolitical events” that transcend their time, these encounters probe fundamental questions of law, freedom, and justice—juxtaposing the Wendat’s egalitarian, matrilineal values with the rigid hierarchies of European legal and social systems. Kondiaronk’s incisive critiques of European thought reverberate across centuries, challenging colonial assumptions and seeding ideas that would later fuel Enlightenment thinking. A contemporary female commentator bears witness to these pivotal exchanges, while the interwoven story of Émilie—a rebellious 18th-century Genevan woman—echoes Kondiaronk’s call for autonomy. Through richly layered narratives and evocative settings, the film reveals its philosophical inquiries as catalysts for radical transformation, both then and now.

At stake in the film is a new image of the European Enlightenment that takes its point of departure not from the studies of solitary French philosophers, but instead from a distant forest where Indigenous thinkers posed questions to their European counterparts that changed the course of human history.

Passages of interviews with the two lead actors about their characters and the politics of settler–Indigenous relations in Canada, particularly as represented in mainstream cinema, are woven into the film to connect historical positions with contemporary discourse.