Latest news with #Dahomey
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Europe pressed to return looted art
After the French parliament voted on Monday to return to Ivory Coast a "talking drum" that colonial troops took from the Ebrie tribe in 1916, here is a recap of other disputes over artefacts looted from Europe's former colonies, reports AFP. The Djidji Ayokwe, the beloved "talking drum" is one of tens of thousands of artworks and other prized artefacts that France looted from its colonial empire from the 16th century to the first half of the 20th century. Three metres long and weighing 430 kilogrammes, it was seized by French troops in 1916 and sent to France in 1929. President Emmanuel Macron in 2021 promised to return the drum, used as a communication tool to transmit messages between different areas, and other artefacts to the west African country. Ivory Coast, Senegal and Benin have all asked for the repatriation of their treasures. In late 2020, the French parliament adopted a law providing for the permanent return to Benin of 26 artefacts from the royal treasures of Dahomey. In a similar exhibit, the Parthenon Marbles, the object of a long-running dispute between the United Kingdom and Greece, are the most high profile of contested treasures. Athens has for decades demanded the return of the sculptures from the British Museum, saying they were looted in 1802 by Lord Elgin, the then-British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. The current government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has escalated its efforts to secure the repatriation of the Marbles, holding official and unofficial meetings with the government of Keith Starmer last autumn. The British Museum has also refused to return any of the sacred sculptures and carvings known as the "Benin Bronzes" taken during a British military expedition in the former kingdom of Benin in southern Nigeria in 1897. It has the biggest collection of the Benin Bronzes which are held in museums across the United States and Europe.
CairoScene
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Red Sea Documentary Film Days Returns to Hayy Cinema This May
From May 3rd to the 5th, Hayy Cinema invites audiences into a lineup of documentaries spotlighting untold global perspectives. Hayy Cinema is partnering with Art Jameel for the 2025 edition of Red Sea Documentary Film Days. Running from May 3rd to the 5th, the program highlights regional and global docu-features that dive into deeply personal, political, and spiritual territory across a range of cultures and filmmaking styles. The lineup includes '4 Little Girls' by Spike Lee, 'Dahomey' by Mati Diop, and 'My Way' by Thierry Teston and Lisa Azuelos. The lineup also features 'Tell Them About Us' by Rand Beiruty, 'Yalla Parkour' by Areeb Zuaiter, 'When the Light Shines' by Ryan Al Bishri, 'Othman in the Vatican' by Yasir Bin Ghanem, 'Alroshan' by Mohammed Ous, 'Kemokazi' by Abdulrahman Batawie, 'Aseer Memory' by Saad Tahaitah, and 'The Brink of Dreams' by Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir. Red Sea Documentary Film Days is part of an expanding slate of programming supported by the Red Sea Film Foundation, launched in 2019. Ticketing details and screening times will be available soon on the Hayy Cinema website and app.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
LUX Audience Award 2025 Nominees Include Oscar-Winning ‘Flow' and Ukraine War Doc ‘Intercepted'
The largest audience award in the world, the LUX Audience Award, sees citizens and members of the democratically elected European Parliament coming together yearly to honor a European film with their coveted prize. This year's slate of highly-acclaimed nominees include Gints Zibalodis's history-making 'Flow,' which just won Latvia its first ever Oscar for Best Animated Film, and Mati Diop's 'Dahomey,' the first film by a Black filmmaker to win the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. A joint initiative of the European Parliament and the European Film Academy in collaboration with the European Commission and Europa Cinemas, the LUX Audience Award 'fosters dialogue and engagement between politics and the public through the medium of film.' Nominated films address 'European values' as well as raising 'awareness about some of today's main social and political issues.' Throughout the competition period, the European Parliament provides subtitles in 24 EU languages and organizes free screenings across all European Union member states. Previous winners of the LUX Audience Award include Lukas Dhont's 'Close' and Jasmila Žbanić's 'Quo Vadis, Aida?' Voting for the LUX Audience Award closes in April, followed by an awards ceremony on a date yet to be confirmed. Below, you can find short profiles on all of this year's nominated films: 'Animal' by Sofia Exarchou (Greece, Austria, Romania, Cyprus, Bulgaria) The first Greek film in 30 years to win the Golden Alexander at Greece's prestigious Thessaloniki Film Festival, 'Animal' is the follow-up to Exarchou's lauded debut 'Park,' which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and won the New Directors Award in San Sebastian. The film, which tells the story of a group of entertainers preparing for the busy tourist season at an all-inclusive resort as nights turn increasingly violent, picked up several other awards during its successful festival run, including acting awards at Thessaloniki and Locarno for Dimitra Vlagopoulou. 'Dahomey' by Mati Diop (France, Senegal, Benin) Diop became the first-ever Black filmmaker to win the Berlinale Golden Bear in 2024 with her follow-up to 2019's highly acclaimed 'Atlantics.' In a history-making moment, it was Lupita Nyong'o — the first Black president of the Berlinale's International Jury — who handed Diop the award for her beguiling hybrid documentary, following the return of 26 royal treasures from Paris to their titular home of Dahomey in Benin. In her review, Variety's Jessica Kiang called 'Dahomey' 'a striking, stirring example of the poetry that can result when the dead and the dispossessed speak to and through the living.' 'Flow' by Gints Zibalodis (Latvia, France, Belgium) In the ten months since premiering at Un Certain Regard in Cannes, Zibalodis's story about a black cat befriending several animals in the aftermath of a devastating flood has become the most-viewed film in theaters in Latvian history, with over 255,000 admissions. The film also gave Latvia its first ever Oscar nominations — for both Best International Film and Best Animated Film. Zibalodis's film won the latter award, becoming the first ever independent film to win the category and beating major studio contenders such as 'The Wild Robot' and 'Inside Out 2.' 'Intercepted' by Oksana Karpovych (Canada, France, Ukraine) Karpovych's foreboding documentary mixes intercepted phone calls of Russian soldiers between March and November of 2022 with images of the destruction in Ukraine to investigate the mechanisms of war. The film was shot over two years, with footage captured in Donbas and the Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv regions. 'Intercepted' premiered at the Berlinale and had a successful festival run, including picking up the Grand Prize for National Feature at the Montreal International Documentary Festival. Variety's Murtada Elfadl called Karpovych's film 'a political snapshot laying bare how both belief in propaganda and disillusionment with leaders can co-exist and lead to apathy.' 'Julie Keeps Quiet' by Leonardo van Dijl (Belgium, Sweden)Van Dijl's feature debut follows the titular Julie, the star of an elite tennis academy who is faced with a great dilemma when her coach is investigated and suspended from his duties. The film, which premiered in Critics' Week at Cannes, went on to have a prestigious festival run, playing festivals such as Karlovy Vary, Toronto, and London, and was selected as Belgium's Oscar entry. In his review, Variety's Guy Lodge said, 'Julie Keeps Quiet' 'knows the value of control — though its own calm is fraught with anxiety and anger.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Oscars 2026: First Blind Predictions Including Timothée Chalamet, Emma Stone, 'Wicked: For Good' and More What's Coming to Disney+ in March 2025
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sarah Dodge Joins Redefine Entertainment As Manager
EXCLUSIVE: Sarah Dodge has joined Redefine Entertainment as a manager. She joins the company with over 12 years of experience at Industry Entertainment. Before her career in management, she served as a development executive at Dimension Films. A graduate of Emerson College, Dodge began her career at The William Morris Agency and HBO. More from Deadline Michael Botti Joins Redefine Entertainment As Partner Redefine Entertainment Promotes Lubna Hanna To Manager Hay Literary Festival: Jesse Armstrong Among Headliners Of Inaugural Cinema Lineup, Screening Programme Includes 'Dahomey', 'Priscilla' & 'The Worst Person In The World' Her clients joining her at Redefine include Charlott Ahlin, writer on AMC's upcoming untitled Jonathan Glatzer Silicon Valley series, Karni Arieli & Saul Freed, who directed and produced the film short Wild Summon, Sarah Carbiener, EP on Prime Video's Criminal, FOX's Krapopolis, Owen Dennis, creator of the series Infinity Train and Among Us, Meg Favreau, screenwriter of the The Twits, Ryan Finnerty (Smosh, Ghostmates), Jesse Gordon (DC League of Super-Pets, Space Jam: A New Legacy), Kari Granlund (Godmothered, Lady & the Tramp), Jenny Lynn, co-EP on FX's Mayans, M.C., ABC's The Rookie, Gustin Nash (Youth In Revolt, Charlie Bartlett), Angela Petrella (Neo Yokio, Stone Quackers), Laura Pollak, co-producer on the Paramount+ series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, Fairfax), Erica Rosbe, co-EP on King of the Hill reboot, and EP of Prime Video's Gen V, and Eva Sørhaug, director Showtime's Yellowjackets, Max's Tokyo Vice, and the film 90 Minutes. 'We are thrilled to welcome Sarah to the Redefine Entertainment team. Her client list exemplifies the kind of highly curated artists that Redefine was founded to support. She operates with a level of empathy that we find to be rare in our business. Her curiosity and her commitment to excellence are unmatched. We look forward to supporting her growth in the coming years,' shared partners Jairo Alvarado, Max Goldfarb, Tony Gil an Michael Botti in a joint statement. 'The moment I met with Redefine, I knew I had found my people,' Dodge shared. 'They are a company with a clear vision. Their commitment to their clients and values of empathy, excellence, curation, and transparency is well-known and well-respected in the industry. I am incredibly excited and proud to join the team,' she added. Redefine Entertainment, founded in 2021, focuses on representing cultural thought leaders in the literary space. The firm represents creators such as Lulu Wang, Malcolm Spellman, Angel Soto, Vivienne Medrano, Dalan Musson, John Swetnam, Erika Lippoldt & Bo Yeon Kim, Jingyi Shao, Juel Taylor & Tony Rettenmaier, Abi Demaris Corbin, Ken Kobayashi, & Kwame Kwei-Armah Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery The 25 Highest-Grossing Animated Films Of All Time At The Box Office 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Golden Bear to be awarded at Berlin Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival, or Berlinale, reaches its high point on Saturday evening when the winning films are announced. A total of 19 films are in the running for the top prize, the Golden Bear, which is awarded to the best film in the competition. Several Silver Bears are also awarded, for example for best director and best acting performance. This year US director Todd Haynes heads the international jury. This year's 75th edition of the Berlinale is scheduled to end on Sunday. Last year, the looted art documentary "Dahomey" by Mati Diop won the Golden Bear.
