French-Senegalese director Mati Diop Dahomey The documentary, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, was chosen to represent Senegal in the Best International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards.
The film tells the story of the return of 26 African royal treasures looted in 19The century from France from the Kingdom of Dahomey and should return to the present Republic of Benin as part of the reparations. The Kingdom of Dahomey was seen in the historical epic of Viola Davis The woman king.
“The director’s personal journey as a cultural revenant continues to be inextricably woven through her work, alongside a contemplative consideration of repatriation and reparations, in her multifaceted, medium-length docu-fiction essay Dahomey,” The Hollywood Reporter he stated in his review of Dahomey from Berlin.
Diop, who wrote and directed Dahomeyhe wonders what the cultural significance of France's restitution of the works of art to Benin could be.
'Dahomey'
Bal Films – Fanta Sy
The feature-length documentary had its world premiere in Berlin and will now screen at the Toronto Film Festival and the New York Film Festival before hitting theaters on October 18.
Diop received his most important award, the Golden Bear, from the president of the Berlin jury and the Academy Award winner 12 Years a Slave AND Black Panther actress Lupita Nyong'o, who was the first black and first African to preside over the Berlinale jury. Diop shares producer credits on Dahomey with Eve Robin and Judith Lou Lévy.
The 96th Academy Awards nominations deadline is November 14, 2024. The shortlist for Best International Feature Film will be announced on December 17. Nominations will be announced on January 17, 2025. The 2025 Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 2.