Berlin Film Festival 2024 | Dahomey earns the prestigious Golden Bear - what is the documentary about?

“Dahomey,” a documentary devoted to the question of the restitution by France of works of art stolen from present-day Benin, has been awarded the Golden Bear, the top honour at the Berlin Film Festival during its closing gala in the German capital overnight. 

The judging panel, led by Lupita Nyong’o this year, voted the Mati Diop feature as the best film that screened during this year’s event, with Diop’s documentary becoming only the second African film to win the top prize at Berlin, following Mark Dornford-May’s South African operatic drama "Breathe Umphefumlo (U-Carmen Khayelitsha)" in 2015. “Dahomey” is also the second documentary in a row to take Berlin’s Golden Bear, following “On the Adamant” from French filmmaker Nicolas Philibert last year.

In her acceptance speech, Diop made another political statement when accepting the award, stating “I stand with Palestine” after accepting the award.

The event, despite being marred by the invitations extended to members of a far-right political party in Germany, was still a festival of firsts; while “Damoney” became only the second African film to win the top prize, the involvement of Nyongo’o also meant that this year’s Berlin Film Festival also had the first Black and first African to chair the Berlinale jury.

What is “Dahomey” about?

“Dahomey” tells the story of 26 royal artifacts from the Kingdom of Dahomey (1600–1904), that were taken back to Benin from France. They had been plundered during the colonial era and displayed in the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, a Parisian museum of non-European art. Among the returned works were statues of Dahomey's former kings, King Glélé and King Béhanzin.

In 1892, French soldiers took possession of the throne of a group of people who held great symbolic value. Recently, the throne was returned to its rightful owners, along with several art pieces. Today, these pieces are displayed in a special museum located in Abomey, the old royal city. Abomey is situated approximately 65 miles away from the coast of the Gulf of Guinea.

Who else won awards at the Berlin Film Festival 2024?

It wasn’t just Mati Diop who earned an award last night; two familiar names also scored big wins at the Berlin Film Festival, with Sebastian Stan earning the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance in “A Different Man” and Emily Watson for her role in “Small Things Like These.”

Main Competition

• Golden Bear: "Dahomey" by Mati Diop
• Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: "A Traveler's Needs" by Hong Sang-soo
• Silver Bear Jury Prize: "The Empir"e by Bruno Dumont
• Silver Bear for Best Director: Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias for "Pepe"
• Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: Sebastian Stan for "A Different Man"
• Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: Emily Watson for "Small Things Like These"
• Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Matthias Glasner for "Dying"
• Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: Martin Gschlacht for The Devil’s Bath by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (cinematography)
• Honorary Golden Bear: Martin Scorsese
• Berlinale Camera: Edgar Reitz
• GWFF Best First Feature Award: "Cu Li Never Cries" by Phạm Ngọc Lân
• Berlinale Documentary Award: "No Other Land" by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor

Encounters

• Best Film: "Direct Action" by Guillaume Cailleau and Ben Russel
• Best Director: "Juliana Roja"s for Cidade; Campo
• Special Jury Award: "Some Rain Must Fall" by Qiu Yang/The Great Yawn of History by Aliyar Rasti

Berlinale Short Films Competition

• Golden Bear for Best Short Film: "An Odd Turn" by Francisco Lezama
• Silver Bear Jury Prize: "Remains of the Hot Day" by Wenqian Zhang
• Special Mention: "That’s All from Me" by Eva Könnemann
• Berlin Short Film Candidate for the European Film Awards: "That’s All from Me" by Eva Könnemann

Panorama Audience Award

Feature film

1. "Memories of a Burning Body" by Antonella Sudasassi Furniss
2. "Crossing" by Levan Akin
3. "All Shall Be Well" by Ray Yeung

Documentary

1. "No Other Land" by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
2. "My Stolen Planet" by Farahnaz Sharifi
3. "Teaches of Peaches" by Philipp Fussenegger, Judy Landkammer

When is “Dahomey” out in the UK?

Streaming platform Mubi will release the film in late 2024, while those in France will be able to see the film when it’s released in French theatres on 25 September 2024 by Les Films du Losange.