Date & Time: Sunday March 9th at 6.15pm
Details: Mati Diop / France, Senegal, Benin / 2024 / 68 mins / Documentary
Dahomey is a poetic and immersive work of art that delves into real perspectives on far-reaching issues surrounding appropriation, self-determination and restitution. Set in November 2021, the documentary 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. Dahomey is an affecting though altogether singular conversation piece that is as spellbinding as it is essential.
Golden Bear, Berlinale 2024
Best Documentary Film, Toronto Film Critics Association, 2024
Best Documentary, the Lumières Awards 2025
Nominated for Best Documentary at the Césars 2025