Mati Diop

Following in the footsteps of her uncle, the great filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambéty, Mati Diop has made cinema her life's work. This Franco-Senegalese artist has established herself as a key figure in French and international cinema, combining a poetic and political style. Her first short film, Last Night, made when she was only 22, earned her a place at Le Pavillon, the Palais de Tokyo's artistic research laboratory. As a director and actress, she has made a name for herself in the industry. In 2019, she became the first black woman to compete in the official competition at Cannes with Atlantique, which won the Grand Prix du Jury. Her cinema transcends the boundaries of reality and imagination, creating a universe in between. Her activism gained momentum with Dahomey, a political and necessary documentary about France's restitution of 26 royal treasures to Benin. This masterful work questions history and collective memory and won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 2024. Through her work, Mati Diop reaffirms the power of cinema as a tool for resistance and emancipation.