Yesterday's slaves. Democracy and ethnicity in Benin

  • Esclaves d'hier : Démocratie et ethnicité au Bénin (Les)
Genre : Social
Type : Documentary
Original title :
Principal country concerned : Column : Cinema/tv
Year of production : 2009
Format : Short
Running time : 29 (in minutes)

The film Yesterday's slaves. Democracy and ethnicity in Benin / Les esclaves d'hier. Démocratie et ethnicité au Bénin explores the social construction of collective identities, the effects of democratisation and decentralisation reforms, and citizenship issues. It deals with the Gando of Northern Benin. The Gando are a Fulfulde-speaking group of slave descendants that emerged politically in the context of democratic decentralisation reform. Today, Gando, who were once seen as a sub-group of Fulani or Baatombu/Boo people, claim they should be recognized as
a new ethnic group and their rights to access to political representation. This challenging claim should be understood as a quest for a full-fledged citizenship.

The film presents the testimony of a former slave. His personal trajectory is both singular and archetypical. Entrusted to Fulani people because he was suspected as infant to be a witch, he was then cured from his witchcraft and enslaved his whole childhood. In many ways his life reflects the historical process of the Gando people's physical and economical emancipation.

The film is available in a DVD format with subtitles in French and English. (see cover).

Our aim is to disseminate knowledge about the social construction of collective identities to a larger audience, as well as development workers and the general public. It is also a tool for teaching that deals with the social construction of collective identities, the legacies of slavery in West Africa, infanticide and inter-ethnic fosterage in relation to witch-children, the recent rise of emancipatory social movements, the sociopolitical effects of democratic decentralisation, and the struggles for citizenship.


A Documentary by Eric Komlavi Hahonou & Camilla Strandsbjerg

Eric Komlavi Hahonou (Producer)
Camilla Strandsbjerg (Producer)

Original language: French
Publication date: 2011
Media of output: DVD
Keywords: democracy, ethnicity, slavery, citizenship

Prices : 20 euros for individuals, 45 euros for institutions.

Partners

  • Arterial network
  • Media, Sports and Entertainment Group (MSE)
  • Gens de la Caraïbe
  • Groupe 30 Afrique
  • Alliance Française VANUATU
  • PACIFIC ARTS ALLIANCE
  • FURTHER ARTS
  • Zimbabwe : Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe Trust
  • RDC : Groupe TACCEMS
  • Rwanda : Positive Production
  • Togo : Kadam Kadam
  • Niger : ONG Culture Art Humanité
  • Collectif 2004 Images
  • Africultures Burkina-Faso
  • Bénincultures / Editions Plurielles
  • Africiné
  • Afrilivres

With the support of