Arguably the most surprising Golden Bear winner in ages was Mati Diop’s Dahomey, a documentary-of-sorts concerning royal treasures taken from the century-gone Kingdom of Dahomey and returned to the present-day Republic of Benin. Should that suggest a dry lesson in art history, the film was noted ofr its decision to employ voiceover giving life to one of the artifacts, guiding us through the objects’ journey in a non-traditional shape––no simple follow-up to Atlantics. Ahead of an October 25 release from MUBI, there’s a first trailer.
As Leonardo Goi said in his Berlinale review, “Toward the discussion’s end, a young woman says it’s insulting that one should think 90 percent of Benin’s cultural heritage is still abroad. ‘Our immaterial heritage’––the traditions, stories, and customs that keep the country together––’are still here.’ It’s a lesson powering the whole film. As reimagined by Dahomey and the passionate voices echoing throughout, a nation’s heritage can’t be reduced to material riches. It’s a breathing, malleable realm, far harder to describe but no less concrete for that. ‘An object dies when the living glance trained upon it disappears.’ Dahomey begins where Statues Also Die ended, wondering what remains of our identities when the things those cling onto suddenly disappear––then resurface from oblivion. To this, Diop offers no clear answers. But in the heart-shaking passion of that university debate, in those students’ resolute commitment to reappropriate their own narratives, she finds something rarer still: a snapshot of a generation for whom this isn’t just the story of a restitution. It’s a resurrection.”
Find preview and poster below:
From acclaimed filmmaker Mati Diop (Atlantics), DAHOMEY is a poetic and immersive documentary that delves into real perspectives on far-reaching issues surrounding appropriation, self-determination and restitution. Set in November 2021, the film charts 26 royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey that are due to leave Paris and return to their country of origin: the present-day Republic of Benin. Using multiple perspectives Diop questions how these artifacts should be received in a country that has reinvented itself in their absence. Winner of the coveted Golden Bear prize at the 2024 Berlinale, DAHOMEY is an affecting though altogether singular conversation piece that is as spellbinding as it is essential.
