Dahomey
Dahomey
6.898%
Thousands of royal artifacts of Dahomey, a West African kingdom, were taken by French colonists in the 19th century for collection and display in Paris. Centuries later, a fraction returned to their home in modern-day Benin. This dramatized documentary follows the journey of 26 of the treasures as told by cultural art historians, embattled university students, and one of the repatriated statues himself.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 1, 2025
Unique doc that reflects on the return of 26 stolen artifacts as they’re brought back to Benin while thousands more like them remain in France. The most enlightening portions are the university open forum where students debate the importance of the return, the educational value etc and whether the return should be taken as good will or rather an insult given the immense amount of artifacts still being held. Though the elements that depict the POV of one of the artifacts are creative, they started to feel a bit too much like filler in an already slight documentary (sub 70 minutes in length). Its short length makes it an easy watch though, and certainly worth watching.