The Spoils director says film forces art world to confront ‘loaded issue’ of restitution

Wilhelm von Schadow’s the Artist’s Children which was restituted to the estate of Max Stern, in a still from the film Spoils. Photograph: Cave 7 Productions

From the Benin bronzes to the Parthenon marbles, debates over the restitution of cultural artefacts are now a fact of life in an international art world forced to reckon with the often controversial history of its treasures.

Museums around the world are having to consider implications of retaining items many argue were taken from their owners under persecution or duress.