Director of "Dahomey," Mati Diop shines at Berlin Film Festival 2024

Germany

The writer and director of "Dahomey," Mati Diop, walked the red carpet at the Berlin Film Festival on Sunday for the world premiere of her documentary.

She was joined by Gildas Adannou, Habib Ahandessi and Joséa Guedje.

Among the competition entries this year is French-Senegalese director Mati Diop with her documentary “Dahomey,” exploring colonization through the return of stolen artifacts plundered by French colonial troops and returned to Benin in West Africa.

"Dahomey" follows the journey of plundered artifacts taken by French colonial troops in 1892, being sent from Paris to the Republic of Benin and the impact of their return.

The Berlin Film Festival kicked off its 74th edition Thursday with the opening-night world premiere screening of Small Things Like These, the Irish drama starring Oscar-nominated Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy. It started 10 days of debuts including for movies starring Rooney Mara, Isabelle Huppert, Gael García Bernal, Kristen Stewart and more.

This year’s Competition lineup features films from a swath of international filmmakers including Olivier Assayas, Mati Diop, Hong Sangsoo, Bruno Dumont and Abderrahmane Sissako.

The Berlin International Film Festival runs till 24 February.