The notion that stories are powerful things was a recurring theme at a gala screening of the documentary “Descendant” on Saturday night at the Mobile Saenger Theatre.

You heard it over and over from the people in the film. You heard it from some of them again afterward, as they joined director and Mobile native Margaret Brown, co-producer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and others on the Saenger stage. You heard it from Barack and Michelle Obama, in a video message that preceded the screening.

The former president took the opportunity to say “how proud and honored we are to support this incredible documentary.” After touching on the fact that it was about descendants of the survivors of the slave ship Clotilda’s final voyage, he added, “This film is a way for the families of the survivors to reclaim part of their story.”

“We know this is a complicated story, and that some of you can trace it back in your own family history,” said Michelle Obama. “But Barack and I both believe that everyone has a story worth telling, even when it’s messy or difficult. And ‘Descendant’ is a story that demands to be told. It chronicles one of the most painful eras in our history. But it’s also a message of strength, resilience and beauty.”

“Descendant” does as much as one 90-minute film can do to meet that story’s demand to be told. It retells the infamous final voyage of the Clotilda, bringing 110 Africans into American slavery essentially on a whim, a bet by Timothy Meaher that he could get away with it long after the importation of captives had been outlawed. It recaps the survivors’ efforts to carve out a place for themselves after the end of the Civil War left them free but stranded in an alien world. It depicts their descendants’ long struggle to preserve the history of their Africatown community in private when telling it in public could have incurred disastrous backlash. It shows how the encroachment of heavy industry posed and continues to pose additional threats. And it weaves in the currents of excitement and trepidation following the confirmation that the ruins of the Clotilda had been found. The ship is a focal point bringing much more attention to the Africatown story, but also concern about who will capitalize on the interest, and who will tell the story.

It’s a lot. And now it’s all out there for the world to take in. “Descendant” had barely made its film-festival debut when the Obamas’ Higher Ground production company and home-video juggernaut Netflix bought in. On Friday it began streaming on Netflix, making it all the more impressive that hundreds of people showed up for the Saenger screening, lining up around the block to get in.

What they got, that Neflix viewers might not, was a sense that the dissemination of the film is a turning point. Now that the Africatown story is out there, the question changes. It was, what happened? Now it becomes, what will happen? The film raises some tough questions about fairness, justice and reparations.

In the post-film discussion, descendant Emmett Lewis, prominently featured in the film, challenged the audience. Would they settle back into comfort, or would they take it as a call to action?

Thompson, who learned several years ago that he has a direct genetic connection to the Clotilda, also went out of his way to underscore the significance of the occasion.

“In any other situation I would gladly say my name is Questlove,” he said. “But I think tonight I’m really proud to just be Ahmir Thompson, son of Jacquelin Louise Lewis, brother of Donn [Donn T] Thompson and descendant of [Clotilda survivors] Charlie Lewis and Maggie Lewis. I just want to say first of all thanks for hosting us. this my first time in Mobile, it’s been a beautiful experience finally getting some sort of closure after five decades of not knowing anything about my history then pretty much in the last 24 hours I’ve learned everything and it’s been awesome.”

After the film Thompson, a world-famous bandleader, author and recording artist, emphatically singled out Joycelyn Davis and Emmett Lewis as community dleaders who will carry the story forward.

Another special moment came from Kamau Sadiki, a specialist diver who has explored the Clotilda and other slave ship wrecks. He told the Saenger audience that before he made his first dive on the sunken hull, he and others thought it best to offer a prayer.

On Saturday, he shared the prayer offered before that “extraordinarily emotional and humbling” foray into treacherous waters:

“Beloved ancestors, your voices have been quiet for 162 years,” he said. “But your silence ends now. Your voices and memory are lifted from this wretched vessel through us, and we welcome you to speak through us. Our connections will never be broken. We are, because of you. Thank you for reaching out to us. Blessings to your spirits, always.”

“Descendant” can be seen on Netflix and in limited theatrical release; theaters screening it include Mobile’s Crescent Theater. For more information on the film, visit participant.com/film/descendant.