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2024

Dahomey

Mati Diop’s Dahomey, winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale, blends fact and fantasy to address cultural restitution. The film follows 26 looted cultural objects from France back to Benin, highlighting the ongoing struggle for justice. It captures vibrant debates among Beninese students on cultural heritage and restitution.

Director

Mati Diop

Runtime

68 Minutes

Country

France, Senegal, Benin

Classification

Unclassified 15+

Dahomey, winner of the prestigious Golden Bear at this year’s Berlinale, is a film that resonates far beyond its frames. Directed by Mati Diop - known for the Cannes-winning Atlantiques - this urgent work addresses the issue of cultural restitution. The film focuses on the former African Kingdom of Dahomey, now in southern Benin, and follows the journey of 26 cultural objects looted by France during colonisation. These artefacts represent just a fraction of thousands stolen, highlighting the ongoing struggle for cultural justice.

Diop’s film traces the journey of these objects and gives them a voice, blending fact and imagination in what she calls a "fantasy documentary". Diop captures a vibrant debate among students at the University of Abomey-Calavi, providing insight into the perspectives of young Beninese on restitution and cultural heritage.

The film approaches restitution from an African perspective that speaks to the universal. This is a work that demands to be seen, celebrated, and discussed.

“It is an invigorating and enlivening film, with obvious implications for the Elgin/Parthenon marbles in the British Museum."

The Guardian

‘’Diop fashions her superb, short but potent hybrid doc Dahomey as a slim lever that cracks open the sealed crate of colonial history, sending a hundred of its associated erasures and injustices tumbling into the light.”

Variety

“Feels like an important contribution to an ongoing conversation about the legacy of colonialism in Africa, and to the thorny topic of restitution and repatriation of cultural heritage to the country of its origin.”

Screen International

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Golden Bear – Berlin, Toronto, Sydney

Film Credits

Director

Mati Diop

Year

2024

Country

FranceSenegal & Benin

Language

FrenchEnglish & Fon

Subtitles

English

Type

Documentary & Feature

Program Strand

World Documentary

Producer

Mati DiopJudith Lou Lévy & Eve Robin

Writer

Mati Diop

Cinematographer

Joséphine Drouin-Viallard

Editor

Gabriel Gonzalez

Cast

Gildas AdannouHabib Ahandessi & Joséa Guedje

Music

Wally Badarou & Dean Blunt

Film Source

Rialto Distribution

Genre

ArtDocumentary & History

Purchase Tickets

Saturday 26 Oct 2024

02:30 pm

Dahomey

Palace Nova Eastend:

Palace Nova Eastend Cinema 4

Friday 1 Nov 2024

12:45 pm

Dahomey

Palace Nova Eastend:

Palace Nova Eastend Eximax

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