PEOPLE . PLACES

TRIBE VERSUS PRIDE

50' (ENG, GER)

The lions and the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania share a long history together.
With lion numbers dropping dramatically, the Maasai must say goodbye to their traditions.

Young Maasai men must prove their skills and courage by killing a wild lion. Warriors risk being attacked and maimed, but in most cases, it is the lion who ends up being killed. This unique ritual has been practiced for hundreds of years, but while the Maasai warriors become legendary, their escapades retold and embellished, and their reputation envied, there is one less lion in the world. With the lions being endangered, how can the Maasai celebrate the rite of passage from boy to man? The elders have come up with an ingenious solution: the Maasai Olympics. This way, the lion, friend and foe of the Maasai, is spared its life to roam the great African savannah.