DAHOMEY
Golden Bear, Berlin 2024
Original language: French, Fon, English
Subtitles: English, Romanian
Directed by: Mati Diop
Country: France, Senegal, Benin
Year of production: 2024
Length: 67 minutes
Genre: fantasy documentary
November, 2021. Twenty-six 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 artifacts 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? While the soul of the artifacts is freed, debate rages among students of the University of Abomey-Calavi.
Mati Diop – Director
Mati Diop – Script
Josephine Drouin Viallard – Cinematography
Gabriel Gonzalez – Editing
Nicolas Becker, Corneille Houssou, Cyril Holtz – Sound
Gildas Adannou
Morias Agbessi
Maryline Agbossi
Habib Ahandessi
Didier Donatien Alihonou
Sabine Badjogoumin
Imelda Batamoussi
Calixte Biah