Dahomey - Expat Cinema Rotterdam
Miss seeing international films because you can’t yet keep up with the Dutch subtitles? Want to meet fellow expats and new Dutch folks? Love cinema? Then this is the event for you! Join Expat Cinema Rotterdam for the best international art house cinema with English subtitles.
In 1892, hundreds of artworks from the West African kingdom of Dahomey were looted by French colonial troops and taken to the ‘motherland.’ In 2021, 26 of these displaced royal artifacts were returned to the Republic of Benin, which encompasses the area once known as Dahomey. This marks a key moment in the troubled timeline of post-colonialism.
With this hybrid documentary, which won the Golden Bear in Berlin, French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop (Atlantique) imaginatively builds a bridge between the past, present, and future. The meticulous transport of a wooden statue of King Gezo is captured in silence, but the filmmaker also gives a voice to the former ruler, who reflects on his retreat in a poetic and mesmerizing voice-over.
A debate between students from the University of Abomey-Calavi grounds the documentary in reality. Their gaze is set on the future, as they discuss topics such as museum policy in their country and how future generations can reconnect society-wide with the art of their ancestors.
Kies tijdstip
- filmspecial
Miss seeing international films because you can’t yet keep up with the Dutch subtitles? Want to meet fellow expats and new Dutch folks? Love cinema? Then this is the event for you! Join Expat Cinema Rotterdam for the best international art house cinema with English subtitles.
In 1892, hundreds of artworks from the West African kingdom of Dahomey were looted by French colonial troops and taken to the ‘motherland.’ In 2021, 26 of these displaced royal artifacts were returned to the Republic of Benin, which encompasses the area once known as Dahomey. This marks a key moment in the troubled timeline of post-colonialism.
With this hybrid documentary, which won the Golden Bear in Berlin, French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop (Atlantique) imaginatively builds a bridge between the past, present, and future. The meticulous transport of a wooden statue of King Gezo is captured in silence, but the filmmaker also gives a voice to the former ruler, who reflects on his retreat in a poetic and mesmerizing voice-over.
A debate between students from the University of Abomey-Calavi grounds the documentary in reality. Their gaze is set on the future, as they discuss topics such as museum policy in their country and how future generations can reconnect society-wide with the art of their ancestors.
