Vague Visages’ Dahomey review contains minor spoilers. Mati Diop’s 2024 documentary features Gildas Adannou, Habib Ahandessi and Joséa Guedje. Check out the VV home page for more film reviews.

In Dahomey, Mati Diop’s latest feature film after 2019’s Atlantics, the French filmmaker once again blends social commentary and the colonial history of a West African nation with surreal and poetic flair. The country in question this time is Benin, not Senegal, and the journey takes place away from France, not towards it. The travelers in aren’t physical people, but rather treasures that were held within French museums for nearly 130 years before being bequeathed back to the nation of Benin. In Dahomey, the artifacts in question create a colonial dialogue about human suffering and remorse. 

Diop embodies the treasures of various buried kings with humanity in Dahomey, giving the central figure — Ghézo, the King of Dahomey from 1818 to 1858 — a weighty voice, one that’s played over a black screen as the historical figure makes royal declarations. He announces, with a sadness, that the French call him “Number 26” — the 26th artifact being shipped back to Benin. These interludes are at once impactful and a bit superfluous, as Diop designs the voice and sound of King Ghézo’s journey more than his made-up introspective words. Much of them ultimately become overshadowed by a much more important discussion involving students from the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin.

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Diop’s use of sound in Dahomey allows her to reflect while educating viewers about the violent unknowns of traveling between the African continent and Europe. As King Ghézo’s voice bursts through the speakers, the filmmaker also incorporates drills, crowbars, machinery, water and various tools. It’s an otherworldly soundscape that’s specifically designed to feel supernatural and intimidating. In Atlantics, Diop uses similar effects to position the Atlantic Ocean as a source of transition from life to death. In Dahomey, the journey back essentially resurrects King Ghézo and several artifacts, such as one depicting King Béhanzin — who ruled during the French colonial takeover in 1894 — as a shark, and another showing King Glélé as a lion. The artifacts’ reappearance in Benin is treated with much fanfare and celebration by the government and other royal descendants, like the return of great warriors who were once long thought dead. The new generation, however, has conflicted thoughts.

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While Dahomey is a fairly short feature, running at only 68 minutes, it contains a lengthy sequence at a conference between University of Abomey-Calavi students that calls into question the true meaning of France’s artifact return to Benin. The reactions range from joy to disappointment to skepticism, with one student questioning the motivations of France’s president, Emmanuel Macron. Criticisms of Benin’s president, Patrice Talon, lead to rebuttals from supporters who think the African politician should be given credit for the transaction. Diop cross-cuts between many different students and never gives an establishing shot of the whole crowd, as each individual speaker gets to hold the attention of the camera frame when they speak. During brief reaction shots, Diop deliberately illustrates the crowd’s ideological diversity. One of the most memorable of these sequence shows someone sleeping during the debate; a shout-out to the bored political agnostic.

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Perhaps the most illuminating back-and-forth discussion in Dahomey focuses on whether the artifacts have a living historical cultural significance. If they do, why re-stock them in a museum when they were meant as religious/spiritual totems? Diop manages to capture and curate such questions while lending a voice to the generation that will determine the future of these treasures within the country. “Many of our objects are overseas, but our culture — our dances, our traditions — are still here within Benin,” a young man declares with rousing applause. A young woman speaks about how colonialism hasn’t ended in the country, because even if the French decided to give the artifacts back, they returned only 26 out of 7,000. Plus, French is still the predominant language that is taught and spoken within Benin, while the regional languages of Fon and Yoruba are barely spoken and not a part of school curriculums.

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It’s quite remarkable how Diop captures the collective view of a West African country through her debate sequences in Dahomey. The filmmaker, who herself is half-French (from her mother’s side) and half-Senegalese (her musician father Wati Diop is the brother of legendary film director Djibril Diop Mambéty), was born into French-African history through a camera lens. Dahomey is a compact and direct film that examines African colonial history and Benin’s future through the eyes of young students.

Soham Gadre (@SohamGadre) is a writer/filmmaker based in Washington, D.C. He has contributed to publications such as Bustle, Frameland and Film Inquiry. Soham is currently in production for his first short film. All of his film and writing work can be found at extrasensoryfilms.com.

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