In 1975, Askara Timlen wins a journalism contest to report on a sacred ceremony in Madagascar called Walking the Dead. A family honors their ancestor by exhuming the corpse, wrapping the remains in a new silk shroud, and reburying him. But the family accuses Askara of a severe taboo, photographing their ancestor's face. Dire consequences arise that extend beyond time and place when the distraught ancestor wedges open the spirit...