Following the Atlantic Grand Prix at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, Matti Diop returns with a thrilling ‘fantasy documentary’

Dahomey, in theaters now

November 2021. Twenty-six royal treasures from Dahomey prepare to leave Paris to return to their country of origin, which has become Benin. Along with several thousand others, these works were looted in 1892 during the invasion of French colonial troops.

But how can we experience the return of these ancestors to a country that had to build and cope with their absence? While the spirit of the artwork is released, a debate rages among students at the University of Abomey-Calavi.

“I fed on both mainstream and counterculture”

In 2019, Atlantic lifted the curtain on the difficult, if not impossible, ocean crossing of Senegalese workers, allowing Matti Diop to not only win the Cannes Grand Prix, but also appear on the Oscar shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film.

Despite this success, the filmmaker has not shifted his work towards more “mainstream” cinema as some might have predicted. Matti Diop’s goal? Stay true to its principles, especially without disdain for political, popular cinema.

“I fed on both mainstream and counterculturehe explains. Atlantique is a synthesis of my mix of cultural influences. With this first feature film, I wanted to stay as close as possible to my artistic language and consciously play a more classic dramaturgy game. The sudden pause imposed by the pandemic made me question the importance I wanted to continue to give to my work as a filmmaker, in terms of its political significance.“

As for the Atlantic, that’s why Matti Diop decides to keep an eye on the African continent, which has been felt for a very long time.Buried under hegemony Western environment“. Born to a French mother and a Senegalese father, the composer Vaisse Diop, the filmmaker finds a way to stay connected to his roots.

For a long time, the status of the French colony of Senegal was similar to that of Dahomey, today’s Benin. The latter, which regained their independence in 1960, were given back part of their cultural heritage that had been looted in recent years. In 2019, while the historic 19th century saber was returned to Senegal, no less than 26 pieces from Dahomey were also returned to Benin. Then stored in the Quai Branly Museum, they attracted the attention of Matti Diop, who decided to make them the subject of his next film.

The word works

However, the filmmaker doesn’t see his latest feature film as a documentary, but as a “fantasy documentary.” The original name, in its sense, which is justified from the probable point of view, of the works: “The decision to shoot the works as characters in point of view and subjectivity To maintain a strong axis while capturing all the other dimensions I wanted to make tangible.” Because in addition to the artistic and political dimension, this humanization of the works that the filmmaker gave voice also recalls the history of their country and the people of their origin.

It was therefore obvious to Matti Diop to give art an authentic voice in the background language: “All the films I made in Senegal are in Wolof, a highly political choice. Dahomey It is aimed primarily at Beninese people who should be able to hear and recognize each other. As subjective as it may be, the story of the voice of the treasure must be returned to them in the background language that everyone speaks in Benin.”

An exciting feature film full of history, Dahomey manages to bring some of its dispossessed culture back to dispossessed people, but also by brilliant cinematography to secure its place as a wonder in modern cinema.

A gem to discover in cinemas now.