RIGA IFF: Dahomejas karaliste

Mati Diopa
Kingdom of Dahomey
Dahomey
FR, SN, BJ
2024, 67', fr, fon, en
Recommended from age 12 Can culture be taken away, take out and bring back? According to the restitution order of French President Emmanuel Macron, 26 works of art of the Kingdom of Dahomey, which were in Paris, are returned to their homeland - the modern Republic of Benin. The gates of the ages open - a meditative essay about the path and time is conjured before our eyes. Standing in silence and among tourists, the ancient totems, statues and royal thrones regain their voices and timbres after more than a century - each of them has its own personal stories, memories and longings, aware of its return home. As poetry alternates with politics, Beninese students angrily discuss the recovery of history - can injustices be overcome in this way? The documentary film, which won the Berlinale's main award "Zelta Lācis", is a historical event - a fixation of the collective catharsis of the Beninese. It is made by Diop, the brightest, boldest Senegalese-French filmmaker, who continues the theme of post-colonialism started with the Cannes Camera d'Or award-winning hybrid work Atlantias (2019). The idea to make this atmospheric road film came shortly after France's decision to bring back a "handful of cultures" in 2021, which seemed like a slap in the face to Diop: because why not everything? Abolishing the "European museum monopolies", the film crosses a wider range of questions not only about the colonial past on the African continent, but also about the restitution of art and cultural artifacts today. Especially in societies, some of which are "scarred" by history, while the other relies on achievements and art that may not even belong to it.

Recommended age: 12+
Screen language: French, Dahomey, English
Subtitle language: Latvian, English
Synchronous translation: no
Duration of screening: 67 min
Place for wheelchair: yes

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