More

1

a classic Forum section film - petite, low budget, political. expectably Mati Diop using the hype of the moment (after winning a major award in Cannes) to get a side project like this into a spotlight through the Berlinale - chronically lacking big names - competition slot. no way Cannes would have given this to her, the film is simply too small. Berlin got her name likely only by offering her this major platform.

festival politics aside Diop uses two enhancements to freshen up a rather plain documentary aesthetically: she looked for a fitting ambient score to underline her images into a dream like float, skillfully arranged yet this is more of a successful result of a meticulous search. and…

1

Même jusqu’au Bénin ça dit Fuck Macron !

18

DAHOMEY. Inventive doc with questionable premises: (1) art should be repatriated to country or origen (2) sacred art is sacred first, art second (3) art is not a commodity.

Review by ellis ★★★★ Liked

loved that this was a doc more focused on storytelling than information. personifies the artefacts returning to benin like a child of diaspora coming back to their home country with the feelings and disconcertment that has.

it also highlights a lot of beninian perspectives on what’s happening but doesn’t really tell u to pick a side or even have context, u just have to listen which i highly appreciate

Review by zoë rose bryant ★★★½ Liked

it’s so impressive how mati diop has such a signature and specific style that is hers and hers alone only two feature films into her career. her storytelling has this hypnotic quality that’s impossible to shake the whole time you’re watching, and i’m always left silent as soon as the credits roll. “within me resonates infinity” will stick with me forever. can’t wait to see what’s next.

1

made the mistake of seating myself in front of four white french people 
🗯️🗯️🗯️🗯️📢📢🔊🔊

8

What a fascinating documentary on stolen cultural idols that are being returned from to what was Benin in Africa.
This vehicle focuses on a few different aspects like the actual transport to the homeland but all the while giving these items an actual voice to touch it's soil again and be aware of how much it has changed also to let the people, old who are revered to see these monoliths of culture come home and also the youth to showcase their hatred by of the French to try to paint good will by returning it now and as an audience member you really are stuck in this swirling narrative that finds you finding earnestness and questionable nature of…

Review by nick ★★★★½ Liked

Arthouse documentary at its finest. Lupita Nyong'o's jury made the right call awarding this the Golden Bear at Berlinale this year.

Mati Diop delves deeper into her African roots, exploring the return of looted artifacts from to Benin. Her camera morphs seamlessly between an omniscient observer and the perspective of the artifacts themselves, weaving a narrative about identity, history, and the uncertain future of a post-colonial Africa grappling with its sense of self.

Rather than relying on traditional methods—footnotes, dialogues, or a structured narrative—*Dahomey* draws strength from its atmospheric and hypnotic visuals, immersing viewers through its aesthetic language. However, the standout moment comes in the forum scene, where young Beninese engage in vibrant, thought-provoking debates, sometimes clashing as they…

Review by Matt Singer ★★★½ Liked

Crams a lot into 68 seemingly placid minutes, including many provocative questions about art and repatriation, plus one of the cooler musical scores I’ve heard in any film in a while.

Review by SilentDawn ★★★½ Liked

67

Most immediately successful is the initial stretch of documenting the transportation of the 26 objects, with the town hall academia of its second half providing a mix of uneasy answers and additional questions. Lush soundtrack does wonders to the often plain visual counterpoint of the form.

1

Roubos e pilhagens que haviam sido normalizados, mas agora aos poucos sendo reparados. O filme de Mati Diop olha para obras afanadas pela França nas guerras coloniais, no caso, da República do Benin, antigo Reino do Daomé. Mati tem uma facilidade natural de enxergar os fantasmas da história, de dar som e voz a um sentimento de Cultura e de desaparecimento. Isso faz desse filme o irmão sanguíneo de Atlantics, um filme diferente mas com arrepios fortes e semelhantes. Nesse novo filme, gostei mais quando a coleta direta de dados foi aos poucos abandonada e tudo virou um transe histórico espectral (eu amei aquele uso muito especial de som e voz). Dahomey nasce em Berlim, cidade propícia para pensar o…

1

This fits within the niche subgenre of films about the intersection of personal/cultural memory and objets d'art (Alain Resnais's Toute la mémoire du monde, the collected works of Sophy Romvari and Sofia Bohdanowicz), but Diop approaches the repatriation of looted artifacts from a shocking number of angles for so brief a feature. 's ceding of Beninoise art is seen as both a long overdue act of decolonization and little more than a PR move to look like decolonization; as some student debaters point out in the film's central scene. only 26 of more than 7,000 pieces returned to their homeland, effectively a means of Macron polishing the turd of his domestic and international image. But Diop pushes even further, giving…