Dahomey review – Mati Diop’s exquisite tale of repatriation

It’s a wisp of a thing, clocking in at barely over an hour. But the agile poetry and formal playfulness of Mati Diop’s exquisite hybrid documentary belies the weight and wealth of ideas within. November 2021: 26 treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey, looted by the French in the late 19th century, leave the Musée du quai Branly in Paris to be returned to their homeland, now Benin in west Africa. Diop’s camera documents the whole process, from the careful packaging of these irreplaceable artefacts, to the ceremonial dancing and joyous celebration that greets their arrival in Cotonou, Benin’s largest city.

But this is more than a handsomely photographed fly-on-the-wall account of a small gesture of reparation (the 26 treasures are just a few of an estimated 7,000 purloined items). Diop, whose previous film was the Cannes Grand Prix-winning Atlantics, gives a voice to the stolen items with a lyrical text by the Haitian author Makenzy Orcel, translated into Fon, and recorded in a collage of male and female voices. Most invigorating of all is a dynamic debate among students at the University of Abomey-Calavi about the significance and meaning of the objects and their return. British Museum, take note.

• In UK and Irish cinemas