2024 Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear winner. The journey of plundered treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey exhibited in Paris, now being returned to Benin.
From acclaimed filmmaker Mati Diop (‘Atlantics’), this 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. Winner of the coveted Golden Bear prize at the 2024 Berlinale, this is an affecting though altogether singular conversation piece that is as spellbinding as it is essential.
France/Senegal/Benin 2024 Mati Diop 68m
