Location: Maasai Mara & Great Rift Valley, Southern Kenya / Northern Tanzania
Overview & Cultural Background
The Maasai are an iconic Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting the savanna landscapes of southern Kenya and northern Tanzania along the Great Rift Valley. Renowned for their vibrant red cloaks (shúkà), elaborate beadwork, and jumping dances (adumu), Maasai identity and cosmology are inextricably linked to cattle.
Maasai pastoralism historically maintained open, unfenced savanna ecosystems that supported the greatest concentration of wild megafauna on Earth. Facing land privatization and severe droughts, Maasai communities are pioneering community wildlife conservancies that combine traditional livestock grazing with ecotourism revenue, proving that pastoralism and wildlife conservation can mutually thrive.
Key facts
- Estimated Population: Approximately 1.5 million people
- Primary Livestock Herded: Zebu cattle, red Maasai sheep, and goats
- Contemporary Challenges: Evictions and land loss from wildlife conservation reserves and private commercial ranches, severe climate-change-induced droughts in East Africa, land subdivision, and water scarcity.
Featured Films in the Festival Program
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Enchukunoto (The Return) 16 min | Kenya | Laissa Malih -
Maasai Voices on Climate Change (and other changes, too) 10 min | Kenya | Joana Roque de Pinho & Maasai Youth Filmmakers
