Dahomey (2024)

The movie starts off by contextualizing exactly what the problem being addressed is. “I grew up completely ignorant that my heritage, my culture, my education, my life and soul had been kept overseas for centuries.” The problem is not unique to this culture and these people—invaders and occupiers have routinely taken what they see of value, and for centuries thought little about it and had few regrets. The indigenous people of Bolivia were enslaved by the Spanish and mined enough silver to build a bridge made of it from South America back to Spain in the early days of sea travel, and that continued for much of the next 400 years. This film depicts the return of 26 royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey, which was established in the 17th century. In late 2021, the artifacts were transported from museums in Paris back to their place of origin, The Republic of Benin. This is about reckoning with history that has been forever altered by colonialism. French troops originally seized the artifacts after war broke out between them and the Kingdom of Dahomey, in 1892. Like most colonial occupiers, France inflicted both physical and cultural violence against the people of Dahomey, robbing them of their history as well—they were especially deprived because of their historical skills as metal workers. They made things that had both artistic as well as cultural value. The current state of Africa has been largely shaped by European interference, from language and education to the state of their cultural institutions.