Film
Dahomey (PG)
Dir. Mati Diop, France/ Senegal, 2024, 68 mins. In French and English with English subtitles. With. Gildas Adannou, Habib Ahandessi, Joséa Guedje.
The screening on Friday 29th November at 6pm will be introduced by Rebecca Bridgman from The Box, Plymouth.*
From acclaimed filmmaker Mati Diop (Atlantics), 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 artefacts should be received in a country that has reinvented itself in their absence. Winner of the coveted Golden Bear prize at the 2024 Berlinale, Dahomey is an affecting though altogether singular conversation piece that is as spellbinding as it is essential.
“Invigorating and enlivening… An interrogative reverie about colonialism, culture, the past and the present” The Guardian
“Strange, captivating and rigorously intellectual… Leaves a mighty impression” Time Out
“Electrifying… A bewitching work of speculative documentary” Sight & Sound
*Rebecca Bridgman joined The Box in 2023 as the Head of Collections and Programme. Earlier in her career she specialised in the art and archaeology of the Islamic World and was the first Curator of Middle East and South Asia at Birmingham Museums Trust. She has also worked as researcher for Islamic ceramics at The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, completed doctoral studies at Southampton and Seville Universities and carried out archaeological field work in East Africa and the Middle East.
For detailed information about the film's age rating and content notices, you can visit the BBFC website and search the film title, then scroll down to the “Content Advice” section: www.bbfc.co.uk
The screening on Friday 29th November at 6pm will be introduced by Rebecca Bridgman from The Box, Plymouth.*
From acclaimed filmmaker Mati Diop (Atlantics), 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 artefacts should be received in a country that has reinvented itself in their absence. Winner of the coveted Golden Bear prize at the 2024 Berlinale, Dahomey is an affecting though altogether singular conversation piece that is as spellbinding as it is essential.
“Invigorating and enlivening… An interrogative reverie about colonialism, culture, the past and the present” The Guardian
“Strange, captivating and rigorously intellectual… Leaves a mighty impression” Time Out
“Electrifying… A bewitching work of speculative documentary” Sight & Sound
*Rebecca Bridgman joined The Box in 2023 as the Head of Collections and Programme. Earlier in her career she specialised in the art and archaeology of the Islamic World and was the first Curator of Middle East and South Asia at Birmingham Museums Trust. She has also worked as researcher for Islamic ceramics at The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, completed doctoral studies at Southampton and Seville Universities and carried out archaeological field work in East Africa and the Middle East.
For detailed information about the film's age rating and content notices, you can visit the BBFC website and search the film title, then scroll down to the “Content Advice” section: www.bbfc.co.uk
