Dahomey

Synopsis

In 2021, France returned 26 royal artefacts, which colonial forces stole from the Kingdom of Dahomey (modern Benin) in 1892. Acclaimed filmmaker Mati Diop (Atlantics, 2019) was there to witness the return of the treasures, which spent over a century away from home. The result is a unique and powerful documentary that won Berlinale’s Golden Bear. It raises pressing questions about the need for reparations, and the price of time forever lost.

Join us for a post-screening panel discussion about heritage, displacement, and belonging on 25th October, with Dr Dacia Viejo Rose, Dr. J. Kelechi Ugwuanyi, and Sonita Alleyne, hosted by Jasmine Bernard-Brooks from The New Black Film Collective with the support of MUBI.

Jasmine is a Project Coordinator and Programmer with The New Black Film Collective, playing a pivotal role in coordinating and executing initiates that amplify Black voices in film and media.

Sonita Alleyne is Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, and the first black woman to lead an Oxbridge College, and was involved in Jesus College’s return of a Benin Bronze in October 2021. Alleyne is also the co-founder and former CEO of Somethin’ Else, a cross-platform media production company, and is a member of the BBC Trust.

Dr. J. Kelechi Ugwuanyi is a critical heritage researcher specialising in Igbo cultural landscapes, indigenous cosmology and contemporary archaeology. Prior to becoming a postdoctoral researcher at the Global Heritage Lab, University of Bonn, Kelechi was Senior Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He received his PhD in Heritage Studies at the University of York.

Dr Dacia Viejo Rose is Associate Professor in Heritage and the Politics of the Past, Department of Archaeology and Director, Cambridge Heritage Research Centre.