Can culture be taken away, shipped off, and returned? Following the restitution order by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, 26 works of art from the Kingdom of Dahomey that were held in Paris are being returned to their homeland – the modern-day Republic of Benin. The gates of ages open up – a meditative essay on travel and time is conjured right before our eyes. Standing in silence and among tourists, the ancient totems, statues, and royal thrones regain their voice after more than a century – each has its own personal stories, memories, longings as they realise they’re returning home. As poetry intertwines with politics, Beninese students have a heated debate on retrieving history – can injustices be overcome this way?

This documentary, Golden Bear winner at Berlinale, is a historic event – capturing the Beninese collective catharsis. Diop, the most distinguished and daring filmmaker of Senegalese and French descent continues exploring post-colonialism – something she started in her hybrid film Atlantics (2019), awarded Caméra d’Or at Cannes. The idea to create this atmospheric road movie was conceived shortly after France made the decision in 2021 to return a “handful of culture,” which Diop felt was a slap in the face: why not return everything? This piece challenges the “monopoly of European museums” and raises broader questions not only about the colonial past within the African continent but also about the restitution of art and cultural artefacts in current times. Especially in societies, some of which have “gaps” in their history, while others are based on achievements and art that perhaps do not even belong to them.