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Dahomey

2024 1h 8m Documentary List
95% Tomatometer 20 Reviews
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. Read More Read Less

Critics Reviews

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Pat Brown Slant Magazine Mati Diop’s captivating, fabulistic documentary Dahomey confronts the reality of how modernity has been shaped by the West’s theft of cultural heritage. Rated: 3.5/4 Feb 27, 2024 Full Review Stephen A. Russell Time Out At just over an hour, Diop’s strange, captivating and rigorously intellectual film leaves a mighty impression well beyond its compact length. Feb 27, 2024 Full Review Shubhra Gupta The Indian Express A question that deserves our attention, and the answers that emerge from it... Feb 27, 2024 Full Review Ricardo Gallegos La Estatuilla A powerful conversation that, similar to Diop's previous work, Atlantics, uses elements of fantasy to enrich its discourse. [Full Review in Spanish] Jul 16, 2024 Full Review Nicolás Medina Montevideo Portal / Latido Beat It is a rather weak proposal both in form and content, where its greatest merit is probably the short fictional passages giving voice to one of these treasures. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 5/10 Mar 26, 2024 Full Review Jaime Pena Caimán Cuadernos de Cine It was not easy to get so much out of a topic that was initially so dry, so given to paternalistic dogmatism or impersonal distancing. [Full review in Spanish] Mar 6, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

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Dahomey

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Movie Info

Synopsis 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.
Director
Mati Diop
Producer
Eve Robin, Judith Lou Lévy, Mati Diop
Screenwriter
Mati Diop, Mati Diop
Production Co
Les Films du Bal
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
French
Runtime
1h 8m