Ivan Radford | On 13, Jan 2025

Director: Mati Diop
Cast: Lucrèce Hougbelo, Parfait Vaiayinon, Didier Sedoha Nassangade, Sabine Badjogoumin
Certificate: PG

When was the last time you watched a film and thought “I didn’t know movies could do that”? Dahomey, the sophomore film from Mati Diop, is full of those tiny breathtaking moments.

Ostensibly a documentary, it charts the returning of 26 artefacts from Paris to their titular homeland, a West African kingdom located what is now the Republic of Benin. Diop follows them from the Musée du Quai Branly to Benin, as they’re packed and shipped in crates to the city of Cotonou. If that sounds dry, wait until you see the project in action – rather than rely on fly-on-the-wall footage, Diop creatively explores the depths of this significant repatriation.

That partly comes through a stirring debate between students at the University of Abomey-Calavi in the city. As they talk about the meaning of the objects and their returning home – whether it’s a PR stunt or an example for all other museums – it’s a rare instance of the people impacted by colonialism debating it centre-stage.

Diop, whose debut Atlantiques was a gorgeous blending of genres, finds visceral thrills amid a superficially academic exchange. But her masterstroke lies in giving voice the artefacts themselves, as she lets us here their pride, their longing, their pain, their anger – their dreaming of going home. Co-written with Haitian author Makenzy Orcel, the poetic voiceover is moving, compelling and entirely absorbing, as it flows between male and female voices.

The result is ethereal, playful and profound – a 68-minute fleeting fascination that has all the weight and impact of a film twice as long. What a unique, remarkable achievement from one of the most interesting filmmakers working today.

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