Maasai filmmaker Joel Kanchori shares an intimate story of warriors and elders during their emotional Eunoto warrior to elderhood rite-of-passage in 2022 in a remote area of Kenya. This unique film is being used today by Maasai leaders to reintroduce the Eunoto Ceremony back into greater Maasai-land and in areas such as the Maasai Mara where Maa culture has virtually disappeared and been forgotten.

The Eunoto Ceremony is on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

Since 2010 Director & Cinematographer Kire Godal and Joel have created the first Maa speaking films in Maasai-land on warrior lion hunting that helped stop lion hunting, as well as documentaries on Maasai-elephant conflict today. Their films are widely shared and distributed through remote Maasai-land communities and appear on National Geographic, BBC, Discovery, Amazon Prime, France 5, in museums, and exhibitions worldwide.

This beautiful unique short film reveals the importance of African tradition, the sophistication of a singular culture, and the emotions of three young men passing through a rite-of-passage thrust upon them. With fortitude and acceptance, they follow the values of their culture learn to take their place in their traditional community guided by their elders.

Never seen before cinematic footage is juxtaposed with 50 years of iconic still Eunoto images by famed photographers Angela Fisher & Carol Beckwith. The still images add a magnificence and historical depth to a noble culture that seems immortal yet is folding under the pressures of modernisation.

Told solely through the voices of the Maasai warriors and their elders, this untampered with glance inside the Eunoto uses subtitles and text cards for clarity. Consequently the film breathes spontaneous vibrancy and creates audience inclusion. The film is a reminder for all humanity of our eternal human need for bonding, mutual respect and longing to belong to a whole greater than oneself in our rapidly modernising and alienating world.

The Maasai fight for their right of distinction, to maintain their own self-governed egalitarian system, and to keep their rich oral history alive. As indigenous peoples they currently face serious issues such as land disputes and cultural assimilation.

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Screenings: https://maasaieunoto.com/screenings-news/

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Film website: https://maasaieunoto.com/

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Film instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maasai.eunoto/