Tag: Mati Diop

Oscar Predictions: Dahomey

Mati Diop’s documentary Dahomey has won the Golden Bear, the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival. Focusing on the theft and return of ancient African artifacts, it marks the filmmaker’s follow-up to 2019’s Atlantics. That fictional work was Senegal’s International Feature Film submission. It made the shortlist but not the final cut of five.

The French release date for Dahomey isn’t until September and U.S. distribution is TBD. Clocking in at just 67 minutes, the early RT score is a clean 100%. The length is enough to contend for Documentary Feature and it has a solid shot at doing just that. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Watch: Atlantics

Back in May, the Senegalese supernatural drama Atlantics received the Grand Prix prize at  Cannes. The picture marks the directorial debut of Mati Diop and she is the first African-American woman to have a feature compete in the annual French fest. The Grand Prix is essentially second place at Cannes and it came in behind Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite, which has already established itself as the front runner for this year’s newly coined Best International Feature Film at the Oscars.

Atlantics is just Senegal’s second entry for Academy consideration. The first was 2017’s Felicite, which made the list of top ten submissions but didn’t end up getting into eventual nominated five. In this particular race in 2019, there are 93 movies eligible for inclusion. This December, that will be whittled down to ten with half of them eventually making the cut come announcement morning.

With a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score and the Cannes seal of approval, Atlantics stands a very real shot being recognized among the nominees. My Oscar Watch posts will continue…