Dahomey

perfectly. Dahomey was the name of a country which was heavily colonized and used for slavery. And france was one such country which not only exploited dahomey people but also looted their arts and artifacts took them away. Now after more than hundreds of years out of more than 7000 artifacts, mere 26 artifacts coming back to homeland, and this documentary focuses on people's reactions and thoughts of these coming back to their home and reflections on their past colonisation and their own lost identity. As Benin(Dahomey) citizens their national language is French instead of their own indigenous languages. Imagine you can't even express your feelings about scars and the brutality of colonization without speaking in the coloniser's language. I loved how Mati Diop used a spirit-like voice narration of King Ghezo whose artifact labelled 26, acts as medium between the old age and current state, and about returning home after spending so many years in the museum of france. What it meant to him. It makes the artifact alive. And its brilliant touch to the documentary because, Dahomey people widely worshipped Vodun(voodoo), a religion which worships spirits. Here when the artifact of king ghezo speaks, it sounds like a spirit is present and it's talking its heart out. And the voice just brings goosebumps on you. It was surreal. It's a striking documentary which sparks a dialogue and reaction on an already ongoing debate of ending scars of colonization by returning arts and artifacts to their homeland. This documentary will always be historically significant for all the victims of colonization around the world.