Mati Diop’s film features multiple quotations such as the aforementioned quote in her feature documentary titled, “Dahomey.” It centers around 26 royal treasures that belonged to the Kingdom of Dahomey which was formed in the 17th century. These artifacts were shipped back to their native Republic of Benin from Parisians Museums in late 2021. It is a movie that depicts reparations with history that has been foiled by colonialism. The French troops destroyed the castle, and as the war broke out between France and the Dahomey kingdom in 1892, France managed to capture all the treasures. France, like most colonial nations, brutally inflicted violence not only physically but culturally with the less abused part of Africa. France removed all memories of them and that was a greater violence and so did other European states. The current state of Africa today was primarily constructed of sequences of European manipulation of everything including linguistic, educational, as well as the state of its cultural institutions.
In her narrative feature film titled “Atlantics”, she showcased “Dahomey’ with a contract between death and life. Diop turned the artifact into a character and animated it, likening the documentary to a ghost story
Shaped through history and wisdom, a raspy yet thin voice breaks throughout the history of Benin, ‘26,’ a wooden and metallic statue, could be observed on its journey back to its home from France. There are scenes in which Diop impersonates 26, for example, in one such scene he is mushy and cramped in a crate, surrounded by darkness. 26 illustrates the idea of being colonized as it is picked up from France and taken to the hands of white Parisian museum workers, only to be afterward repositioned into the hands of its true owners- dark and beautiful-skinned Benians. Just like 26, we’re finally relieved knowing we are in Benin which has finally been freed of the thick chain, a wrong has been made right.
Moving on, the community tries to fill the emptiness that remained centuries after history was robbed and lost. “Dahomey” exhibits striking observation where reparations are evaluated and accepted, she makes it clear that there is still a longer journey ahead. She gives an example in Fade which contains thousands of artifacts safely rested in frane and prefixs it with the question When will they be home?
Some remain hopeful and those who feel that the damage done is irreversible. Their identity is forever associated with those who attempted to subjugate them. Diop’s camera does not seek to condemn the talk, rather it records it sweetly and promotes talking on or off camera. They don’t completely document the long process of these people getting the artifacts back but their experience speaks volumes and witnessing them demonstrates the sorrow of everything they have lost. The relationship between history and person is never one-sided as each affects the other. Seeking justice for a historical wrong is therefore seeking lots of dislocated pieces of self scattered everywhere in the world and in many cases along the lines of conflict. The people of Benin are only in the initial stages of a tedious journey of reconstructing their identity in the world that they now find themselves in.
“Dahomey” is a film that I find to be subpar and unimpressive. With its runtime being a measly 68 minutes, it barely scratches the surface of engaging judicious conversations that I feel should’ve been included to expand on the story and make it more dramatic. It seems to be Black in any part of this globe, comes with the dread of having to constantly talk about and fix historical accuracy. It is safe to say that the fingerprint of imperialism has distorted all of us, with the only remedy us being able to speak out against it. Progressing through cultural violence is not a simple act of having our items returned to us, there is also a deep-seated issue of erasing history and reconstructing society in the name of the oppressor that needs to be atoned for. With “Dahomey”, Diop seeks to change how society is viewed through the lens of an activist, to achieve this she stresses utilizing the past to better the future of the disabled. “Dahomey” is a true work of art, it’s an important documentary that every soul on this planet should witness, it is as beautiful, melancholic, and intellectually mind-bending as a film can be.
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