ENGLISH WORLD "A bit of history to bring us together. 'DAHOMEY' a film by MATI DIOP - Golden Bear of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival - Post 2."
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A bit of history to bring us together. "DAHOMEY a film by MATI DIOP https://ainsiparlaitlart.blogspot.com |
Les Films du Losange (www.filmsdulosange.com).
"DAHOMEY," a film by Mati Diop - Golden Bear of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival
A bit of history
The Kingdom of DAHOMEY (Danxomé in the Fon language) is an ancient African kingdom located in the south of present-day Benin. It was founded in the 17th century by King Houegbadja. Under his reign and that of his descendants—a single dynasty ruling for three centuries—the kingdom became a considerable regional power, characterized by a highly structured local economy, a prosperous transatlantic trade, a centralized administration, a tax system, and a powerful army that included the famous Amazons (Agodjié). In 1892, during the reign of King Béhanzin, Colonel Dodds invaded Abomey, the kingdom's capital, and by 1895, Dahomey was integrated into the French colonial empire. Upon gaining independence on August 1, 1960, the country took the name of the kingdom and became the Republic of Dahomey.
ABOMEY was "the capital," or more precisely, the seat of the Kingdom of Dahomey. The Houegbadja dynasty that succeeded each other from the 17th to the 19th century transformed it into a true city-state. It boasts impressive palaces, vibrant court art and craft, and the practice of Vodun religion at every street corner. From Abomey, each king left his mark to uphold their motto: "Dahomey always greater!" From agricultural development to the transatlantic slave trade, Abomey was a crossroads city. Its palaces, of exceptional universal value, are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
- TIMELINE -
1890
The war between the French and the Dahomeans begins due to differing interpretations of the treaties of Cotonou and the protectorate of Porto-Novo.
November 17, 1892
French troops enter Abomey and pillage the palaces and city. Dodds and his troops seize royal artifacts.
1893-1895
General Dodds donates items to the Trocadéro Museum, later the Museum of Man, including 26 items that will be returned later. They will be kept at the Quai Branly Museum starting in 2000.
1957
Restitution of an Ashanti stool to Ghana by the Queen of England during the celebrations of that country's Independence.
1960
Congo requests Belgium to transfer the "Belgian Congo Museum" to Kinshasa.
1969
Pan-African Cultural Manifesto in Algiers emphasizing the need to recover objects and archives looted by colonial powers.
1975
About a hundred pieces from the Tervuren Museum (Belgium) are returned to Kinshasa after lengthy negotiations.
June 7, 1978
Speech by Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow, Director-General of UNESCO, about the necessity of rebalancing world heritage between the North and the South, advocating "for the return of irreplaceable cultural heritage to those who created it."
1982
Pierre Quoniam, then Director of the Louvre Museum, drafts a report advocating for the restitution of African heritage. None of his recommendations were implemented in the four decades that followed, and his report was forgotten.
August 26, 2016
Official request from President Patrice Talon of the Republic of Benin to the French State for the restitution of cultural property taken during colonization.
November 28, 2017
French President Emmanuel Macron, in a speech at the University of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), positions himself in favor of possible restitution of African heritage to Africa by 2022.
November 23, 2018
Presentation of the report “Restituting African Heritage” commissioned by Emmanuel Macron to Bénédicte Savoy, French art historian, and Felwine Sarr, Senegalese economist.
November 24, 2019
Return of the El Hadj Oumar Tall sword by France to Senegalese President Macky Sall.
December 24, 2020
The French National Assembly votes law n°2020-1673 relating to the restitution of cultural property to the Republic of Benin and the Republic of Senegal. This law specifies that actual restitutions must take place within one year.
November 10, 2021
The 26 artworks returned by France are back in Benin.
DISTRIBUTION
LES FILMS DU LOSANGE
7/9 rue des Petites Écuries
75010 Paris
www.filmsdulosange.com
PRESS RELATIONS
MONICA DONATI
55, rue Traversière - 75012 Paris
Tel.: 01 43 07 55 22
Monica.donati@mk2.com
Synopsis
November 2021, twenty-six royal treasures from Dahomey are set to leave Paris to be repatriated to their land of origin, now called Benin. Along with thousands of others, these works were looted during the invasion of French colonial troops in 1892. But how do you live the return of these ancestors in a country that had to rebuild and cope with their absence? As the soul of the artworks is released, the debate rages among students at Abomey Calavi University.
L' Art s'affiche. Ainsi Parlait l' Affiche DAHOMEY - Post 1
"Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival and Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival Sutherland Award - Best First Film."
Educational File for the Film DAHOMEY by Mati Diop, 2024
Prepared by Bénédicte Laplane and Marie Saumet, associate professors of History and Geography.
To fully understand and help others understand the film Dahomey, a powerful work that interweaves past and present, history and fantasy, fiction and documentary, as well as the various issues surrounding the restitution of cultural property looted by colonial powers, we have prepared this file aimed at helping to organize activities before and after the film screening. This file is primarily addressed to high school teachers, as the target audience is students in their final two years (Premières and Terminales), for whom five varied educational activities are proposed.
Dossier pédagogique du film DAHOMEY de Mati Diop, 2024
Réalisé par Bénédicte Laplane et Marie Saumet, professeures agrégées d’Histoire-Géographie
Pour bien comprendre et faire comprendre le film Dahomey, ce film puissant qui mêle passé et présent, histoire et fantastique, fiction et documentaire, et les différents enjeux de la question des restitutions des biens culturels pillés par les puissances colonisatrices, nous avons préparé ce dossier qui a pour objectif d’aider à organiser une exploita- tion en amont et en aval de la projection du film. Ce dossier s’adresse en priorité aux professeurs de lycée puisque le public visé est celui des Premières et Terminales pour lesquels cinq activités pédagogiques variées sont proposées.
DISTRIBUTION
LES FILMS DU LOSANGE 7/9 rue des Petites Écuries 75010 Paris www.filmsdulosange.com
RELATIONS PRESSE MONICA DONATI
55, rue Traversière - 75012 Paris Tél. : 01 43 07 55 22 Monica.donati@mk2.com
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