Synopsis : November 2021, twenty-six royal treasures from Dahomey are preparing to leave Paris to be repatriated to their homeland, now Benin. With several thousand others, these works were looted during the invasion of French colonial troops in 1892. But how to experience the return of these ancestors in a country that had to build itself and deal with their absence? While the soul of the works is being freed, the debate rages among the students of the university of Abomey Calavi.
Mati Diop is a Franco-Senegalese director, actress and screenwriter. Born on June 22, 1982 in Paris, she is the niece of filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambéty, a major figure in Senegalese cinema. Diop studied at Femis, the Ecole nationale supérieure des métiers de l’image et du son, in Paris, where she developed her skills in cinema.
She became known for her films that explore the themes of migration, identity and intercultural relations. His short fiction film “Atlantiques”, released in 2009, won the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in the Short Film category. She then directed her first feature film, «Atlantique», in 2019, which was also presented at Cannes and won the Grand Jury Prize.
His work is praised for its sensitivity to capturing the nuances of human experiences, particularly those of African and diasporic communities. In addition to her career as a director, Mati Diop is also known for her commitment to diversity and representation in the film industry.