“Dahomey,” a documentary directed by Cannes prizewinner Mati Diop (“Atlantique”) and slated for the Berlinale competitors, will likely be represented internationally by Paris-based Les Movies du Losange.

The characteristic marks the directorial comeback of the French-Senegalese expertise after successful the Grand Prize at Cannes with “Atlantique” in 2019. Diop, who can be a well known actor (“Hearth”), is taken into account one of many main lights in a brand new wave of African and diaspora cinema.

In “Dahomey,” Diop explores the difficulty of colonization by the story of treasured artworks restituted to Benin in November 2021 after being stolen by French colonizers in 1892, when the African nation was known as the Kingdom of Dahomey.

The documentary follows the journey of 26 royal treasures plundered by French colonial troops within the Kingdom of Dahomey, which have been exhibited on the Musée du Quai de Branly in Paris and are being returned to Cotonou in Benin. Diop “convey the artifacts again to life and offers a voice to the calls for of a brand new technology by a stylized and modern mise-en-scène,” Les Movies du Losange mentioned in a press release. The documentary has a political dimension, weaving in debates raging amongst college students within the nation’s College of Abomey-Calavi.

The film reteams Diop with “Atlantique” producers at Les Movies du Bal and Senegal’s Fanta Sy. Les Movies du Losange is dealing with worldwide gross sales and can distribute the documentary in France.

“Dahomey” is likely one of the a number of French co-productions introduced as a part of the Berlinale competitors, alongside Abderrahman Sissako’s “Black Tea,” one other movie specializing in the African diaspora.