Dahomey

02/11/2024 - quanly

Feature Film/ Bénin, Sénégal, France/ 68 min/2024

Director: Mati Diop

Screenwriter: Mati Diop

Director of Photography: Josephine Drouin Viallard

Production: Eve Robin, Judith Lou Lévy, Mati Diop

Music Composer: Wally Badarou, Dean Blunt

Synopsis:

November 2021: 26 royal treasures of the Kingdom of Dahomey are about to leave Paris to return to their country of origin, the present-day Republic of Benin. Along with thousands of others, these artefacts were plundered by French colonial troops in 1892. But what attitude to adopt to these ancestors’ homecoming in a country that had to forge ahead in their absence? The debate rages among students at the University of Abomey-Calavi.

Director’s biography:

Mati Diop, born in 1982 in Paris, is a prominent figure in international arthouse cinema. Her feature film Atlantiques (2019), which won the Grand Prix at Cannes, established her as a leading voice in the new wave of African and diasporic cinema. Diop’s films, including Atlantiques (2009) and Mille Soleils (2013), explore themes of migration, colonialism, and African identity.