SCREENINGS

SYNOPSIS

November 2021: 26 art treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey leave Paris and return to their country of origin, today’s Benin. Together with thousands of other artefacts, they were looted by French colonial troops in 1892. But how should the returning objects be received in a country that has changed during their absence? A political debate flares up among students at the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin.

In her documentary film, French star director Mati Diop focuses on the African perspective on the return of the art treasures. She observes calmly and precisely and magically gives even the returning statues a voice of their own. DAHOMEY won the Golden Bear at the 2024 Berlinale.

On Sunday, October 20, the screening will be followed by a discussion on postcolonial perspectives of Nuremberg’s cultural institutions.

With: Akim Gubara (ISD Nürnberg), Shana Filmore (ISD Nürnberg), Dr. Evelyn Reitz (Stadtmuseum im Fembo-Haus), Dr. Bärbel Reuter (Naturhistorische Gesellschaft Nürnberg)

Mati Diop

Biografie

Since the 2000s, the director has established herself as a representative of a new wave of African and Afro-diasporic culture with her multifaceted film work. Her feature film Atlantique was awarded the Grand Prix in Cannes in 2019. She sees cinema as a tool of re-appropriation to restore lost images, question degrading colonial representations and invent new heroes.

Filmografie

Atlantiques (2010), Snow Canon (2011), Big in Vietnam (2012), Mille Soleils (2013), Atlantics (2019), In My Room (2020), Dahomey (2024)