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‘Dahomey’ – A must see documentary that continues to gather awards momentum in 2025

‘Dahomey’ –  A must see documentary that continues to gather awards  momentum in 2025

Film explores colonial legacy…

By Suman Bhuchar

THIS is a film I have been waiting to see for the whole year – ‘Dahomey’ won a Golden Bear in Berlin (Berlinale) and it’s a beautifully constructed documentary that tells the story of the repatriation of 26 museum objects to the Republic of Benin.

Directed by Mati Diop, she says that after her first film, ‘Atlantics’ (2019) she knew she wanted to engage with making cinema in Africa and she could clearly see that her second film would be about “restitution”.

Although she was working on her own story, when in 2021 when President Emmanuel Macron announced the return of the treasures, she had to follow the story and find a way of giving voice to those objects looted a long time ago. It is a poetic meditation on decolonising the museums.

These objects were part of a haul taken by French colonialists in 1892 from the West African Kingdom of Dahomey (now called Benin).

In the film, we see the approach from several perspectives – we see white clothed /white gloved, mostly men handle the objects which include statues and scared totems, putting them reverentially in boxes to be transported from the Musée Quay Branly to Benin. It’s all done in a meditative silence with only the natural sound – i.e. the odd speech, the movement of the objects, the clanking of chains. Then Diop has given voice in Fon (the language of Fon people from Dahomey) to one of the statues (King Ghezo) who speaks in the voice of the ancestors: “Why don’t they call me by my real name?”

The treasures are taken to the Palais De La Marina in Cotonou where it is welcomed with a gun salute as well as a VIP opening event. During all this the voice of King Ghezo wonders “Is this the end of the journey, far removed from the country I saw in my dreams?” concluding: “I will give myself up to this tropical caress”.

Meanwhile students, academics and others at the University of Abomey-Calavi in the south of Benin debate the repatriation, discussing their heritage, arguing as to why it has been kept overseas? Why not the entire hoard and how this gesture will change nothing for the present population?
Dahomey’ is a powerful and beautiful film. It is a must see.
Acv rating: ****(five out of five)

This film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival (February 15-25 2024) where Suman Bhuchar saw it; and now features in the list of 15 films shortlisted for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category (December 17 2024) and has many, many nominations and awards already. ‘Dahomey’ screened in France in September and released in the UK and North American cinemas on October 25 2024 – it is now available on several streaming services…

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Written by Asian Culture Vulture