Savage Memory uses the controversies surrounding the legacy of the founding father of British Anthropology to explore powerful questions surrounding history and the ways in which it is created; memory and it's fluidity; and the imprints of the spirits of the dead. Told through the lens of Malinowski's great grandson, the film weaves familial and historical perspectives with rich verite moments in the site of Malinowski's field work - the Trobriand Islands, an archipelago off the coast of Papua New Guinea.