Dahomey

Taking place in November 2021, the film takes as its subject 26 royal treasures of the Kingdom of Dahomey, which, along with thousands of others, were plundered by French colonial troops in 1892.

As these artifacts are due to leave Paris to return to their country of origin: the present-day Republic of Benin, Diop questions how they should be received in a country that has reinvented itself in their absence, using ethereal voiceover and footage of debating students at the University of Abomey-Calavi to offer multiple perspectives.

'Mati Diop’s captivating, fabulistic documentary confronts the reality of how modernity has been shaped by the West’s theft of cultural heritage' - Pat Brown, Slant Magazine

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