26 Royal Treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey, modern day Republic of Benin in North Africa that were stolen by the French during its colonisation of the area are being repatriated from the Musée de Quai Branly in Paris to their homeland, a country that still has French as its main language.

The first half of the film was a tad trying with a scant voice-over of an anathromorphised artefact that is being returned from its colonial thievery from the 1800s and long, lingering shots of the artefacts being moved and transported but the documentary really hits its stride when we see the students from the University of Abomey Calavey in Benin debating, arguing and reasoning about this historical event and the repatriation of the artefacts.

Fantastic points are made on both sides of the issue by the students and this is the heart of the film. What about the rest of the artefacts? Some 7000 were stolen and only 26 are being returned.

French/Senegalese film-maker Mati Diop (Atlanics) directs this strange and sometimes interesting documentary that brings up all sorts of points about colonial theft and national and cultural pride in a country where the historical identity is not taught as much as it should be.