Out of the Archive: DAHOMEY

Name: Out of the Archive: DAHOMEY
Start: 2025-02-05T19:00:00-06:00
Location: FilmScene (at The Chauncey)

Schedule

Wed, 05 Feb, 2025 at 07:00 pm

UTC-06:00

Location

FilmScene (at The Chauncey) | Iowa City, IA

Out of the Archive: A Global Lens
Arrive hungry at 6:15pm for a pre-screening meal | Post-screening discussion with Anny Curtius and Cory Gundlach
"A bold and memorable history lesson."—Adam Solomons, IndieWire
The latest from acclaimed filmmaker Mati Diop (Atlantics) is a poetic and immersive documentary that delves into real perspectives on far-reaching issues surrounding appropriation, self-determination and restitution. Set in November 2021, the film charts 26 royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey that are due to leave Paris and return to their country of origin: the present-day Republic of Benin. Using multiple perspectives, Diop questions how these artifacts should be received in a country that has reinvented itself in their absence. Winner of the coveted Golden Bear prize at the 2024 Berlinale, the documentary is an affecting though altogether singular conversation piece that is as spellbinding as it is essential.