The New York Times19d
‘Dahomey’ Celebrated Looted Art’s Return. What Happened Next?
By Elian Peltier Reporting from Abomey and Cotonou, Benin. Throughout the movie “Dahomey,” the eerie voice of a 19th century West African king emerges from the depths of history.
LA Times on MSN14d
Review: In sharp documentary ‘Dahomey,’ African art returns home, but colonialism still stings
A long-silent voice from a distant past — eerie and reverberating — awakens in the climate-controlled, antiseptic chambers of ...
A country reclaims and reckons with stolen fragments of its history in Dahomey
Mati Diop’s brisk, thoughtful documentary Dahomey considers the limited yet necessary good done through restitution.
Mati Diop’s Dahomey: A poetic inquiry into cultural restitution and identity
A key regional state in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Kingdom of Dahomey’s borders existed within present-day Benin and ...
Hosted on MSN22d
Dahomey emphasizes the marginalized in contemplating colonialism's modern-day manifestations
This framing captures various objects like King Ghezo’s statue or inhabitants of Benin (the renamed version of the Republic of Dahomey). A global society deferring to colonizers has constantly ...
KERA News21d
'Dahomey' follows the return of colonial artifacts from French museums to Benin
The 26 artifacts were among thousands taken by French colonial troops in the late 19th century from the kingdom of Dahomey, which is now the Republic of Benin in West Africa. The loot was ...
The Conversation17d
Dahomey: timely repatriation documentary gives a literal voice to Benin’s stolen objects
The items were looted by French troops during an invasion and subsequent colonial occupation of the kingdom of Dahomey, now the present-day Republic of Benin, in November 1892. Prior to its return ...
KQED9d
‘Dahomey’ Follows Relics’ Return to Benin in a Moving Documentary
French filmmaker Mati Diop’s evocative Dahomey centers on 26 statues and cultural objects — a handful of the estimated 5,000 pieces stolen at the end of the 19th century — that France returned to ...
The Boston Globe16d
‘Dahomey’: Compelling, imaginative documentary tells tale of plunder and repatriation through an unusual point of view
“Dahomey” packs a lot of introspection and ... original home in the African Kingdom of Dahomey (now the Republic of Benin). This kingdom, established in the 17th century, was the subject ...
The New York Times22d
‘Dahomey’: A Daring Meditation on the Painful Legacy of Looted Artifacts
The movie comprises mostly observational footage shot during the shipping and repatriation of 26 objects that France had looted from the kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin) during the invasion of 1892.
The New Yorker23d
Mati Diop and the Cinema of Impossible Returns
The French Senegalese director passed on big-budget Hollywood projects before making her latest film—a fantastical ...
The Financial Times23d
Dahomey film review — searching meditation on the return of looted art to Benin
Back in Benin, the returnees inspire public celebrations, but are greeted only by dignitaries. Gezo is checked by curators for oxidisation. He himself is unsure his journey is over. Dahomey is ...