Contents
Mati Diop
Atlantics and Dahomey, films connecting migration, memory and cultural restitution.
A Thousand Suns · Atlantics
- Born
- 22 June 1982
- Birthplace
- Paris, France
More people
Mati Diop
Mati Diop works across fiction, documentary and acting. Her films often connect individual experience with the unfinished histories linking Africa and Europe.
Early life
Artistic family
Her father is musician Wasis Diop and her uncle was filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambéty.
Training
Studied at Le Fresnoy and the Palais de Tokyo's Le Pavillon programme.
Career
- 2004–2009
Shorts and acting
Began directing shorts and acted in Claire Denis's 35 Shots of Rum.
- 2013
Documentary work
Made A Thousand Suns, returning to the world of Touki Bouki.
- 2019
Feature debut
Atlantics won the Cannes Grand Prix.
- 2024
Golden Bear
Dahomey won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
Selected work
A Thousand Suns
Revisits an actor from her uncle's Touki Bouki.
Atlantics
A Dakar love story becomes a ghostly account of migration and absence.
Dahomey
Follows the return of looted royal objects from France to Benin.
Beyond work
Research fellowship
Held a Radcliffe fellowship in 2014–2015 while developing her filmmaking.
Cultural debate
Has joined public discussions about the return of African artworks and the meaning of restitution.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Film at Lincoln Center: Dahomey ↗Photo: Elena Ternovaja. CC BY-SA 3.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
