Documentary Educational Resources - Filmmaker / Llewelyn-Davies, Melissa / All Films

Diary of a Maasai Village series

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

Diary of a Maasai Village series
Buy Now: $1,360.00

"A rich man in Maasai has children and cows.... and he has wives - many wives."

This series of five films by Melissa Llewelyn-Davies looks at daily life among the Maasai. The films are presented as a diary of a 7-week visit to a single village. The structure is episodic and the content dependent on various events or stories, some of which are developed through more than one film. The tapes can be used independently or together, to give an in-depth sense of Maasai life.

The senior man in the village is the most important Maasai prophet and magician who is known as the Laibon. He is regarded as a wealthy man because he has so many wives and children. He has 13 wives living in the village as well as a large number of children, about 20 daughters-in-law, and 30 grandchildren. All the main characters in the films are somehow related to the Laibon, who was nearly 80 years old when the films were made.

A common thread to the events of all five films is the ever-present anxiety about the state of the herds. These appear to be slowly depleting due to drought, disease and an increasing need to sell livestock for cash. Cash and/or livestock are needed by the Laibon and his kin to trade for wives, to pay off debts and to compensate for previous thefts.

Films in the Diary of a Maasai Village Series

Part 1: The Prophet's Village

Part 2: Two Ways Of Justice

Part 3: Two Mothers

Part 4: Two Journeys

Part 5: Nine Cows And An Ox

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Diary of a Maasai Village, Part 1

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 07:04:00 GMT

Diary of a Maasai Village, Part 1
Buy Now: $320.00

The Prophet's Village examines the problem of maintaining enough cattle to supply milk and meat versus selling off cattle to raise money for maize, antibiotics and pesticides; cash is also needed to pay for legal fees for Rerenko, the Laibon's son.

About the Diary of a Maasai Village series

Part 1: The Prophet's Village

Part 2: Two Ways Of Justice

Part 3: Two Mothers

Part 4: Two Journeys

Part 5: Nine Cows And An Ox

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Diary of a Maasai Village, Part 2

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 07:04:00 GMT

Diary of a Maasai Village, Part 2
Buy Now: $320.00

In this episode of Diary of a Maasai Village, the film follows the story of the young men of the village. Young men are ritually prohibited from eating grain. Several of them steal one of the Laibon's goats and then must make reparations.

About the Diary of a Maasai Village series

Part 1: The Prophet's Village

Part 2: Two Ways Of Justice

Part 3: Two Mothers

Part 4: Two Journeys

Part 5: Nine Cows And An Ox

Visit Llewelyn-Davies, Melissa to see additional products in this category.

Diary of a Maasai Village, Part 3

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 07:04:00 GMT

Diary of a Maasai Village, Part 3
Buy Now: $320.00

Two Mothers focuses on gender relationships in a Maasai village. The principal events for the women are a "coming out ox" ritual and the birth of a child; for the men, the birth of a calf is the central theme.

About the Diary of a Maasai Villageseries

Thisseries of five films by Melissa Llewelyn-Davies looks at daily life among theMaasai. The films are presented as a diary of a 7-week visit to a singlevillage. The structure is episodic and the content dependent on various eventsor stories, some of which are developed through more than one film. The tapescan be used independently or together, to give an in-depth sense of Maasailife. The series includes the following five films:

Part 1: The Prophet's Village

Part 2: Two Ways Of Justice

Part 3: Two Mothers

Part 4: Two Journeys

Part 5: Nine Cows And An Ox

Visit Llewelyn-Davies, Melissa to see additional products in this category.

Diary of a Maasai Village, Part 4

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 07:04:00 GMT

Diary of a Maasai Village, Part 4
Buy Now: $320.00

Two Journeys is the fourth episode in the Diary of a Maasai Village series. This episode contrasts the journey of Miisia's new wife back to his village with that of Tipaia's to sell cattle for Rerenko's legal fees.

About the Diary of a Maasai Villageseries

Thisseries of five films by Melissa Llewelyn-Davies looks at daily life among theMaasai. The films are presented as a diary of a 7-week visit to a singlevillage. The structure is episodic and the content dependent on various eventsor stories, some of which are developed through more than one film. The tapescan be used independently or together, to give an in-depth sense of Maasailife. The series includes the following five films:

Part 1: The Prophet's Village

Part 2: Two Ways Of Justice

Part 3: Two Mothers

Part 4: Two Journeys

Part 5: Nine Cows And An Ox

Visit Llewelyn-Davies, Melissa to see additional products in this category.

Diary of a Maasai Village, Part 5

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 07:04:00 GMT

Diary of a Maasai Village, Part 5
Buy Now: $320.00

This final segment of the series, Diary of a Maasai Village, depicts the ceremony known as the "ox of ilbaa," from which Miisia emerges, acknowledged as a man.

About the Diary of a Maasai Villageseries

Thisseries of five films by Melissa Llewelyn-Davies looks at daily life among theMaasai. The films are presented as a diary of a 7-week visit to a singlevillage. The structure is episodic and the content dependent on various eventsor stories, some of which are developed through more than one film. The tapescan be used independently or together, to give an in-depth sense of Maasailife. The series includes the following five films:

Part 1: The Prophet's Village

Part 2: Two Ways Of Justice

Part 3: Two Mothers

Part 4: Two Journeys

Part 5: Nine Cows And An Ox

Visit Llewelyn-Davies, Melissa to see additional products in this category.

The Women's Olamal

Fri, 24 Aug 2018 12:25:00 GMT

The Women's Olamal
Buy Now: $340.00

"If you bear children, your husband loves you. A woman who hasn't given birth is like a wilderness. And when her husband dies, if she has no children, she'll be shooed away by the sons of his other wives."

The Women's Olamal follows the events that preceded a controversial ceremony in Loita, Kenya, to bless the women and to increase their ability to have children. This film, presented in observational style with limited commentary, depicts some of the tensions between men and women in Maasai society which, in this case, erupt in a violent row between them. Explanations and insights are portrayed in interviews with the women themselves.The events are seen through the eyes of four women: Nolpiyaya and Kisaju, who have four and nine children respectively; Nolmeeyu, a barren woman near menopause; and Kisaro, who is beginning to worry that after ten years of marriage, she too may be barren.

Loita is a Maasai district which is now divided in two by the international border between Kenya and Tanzania. This political partition complicates the women's aspirations for a ceremony. There was a rumor that another ceremony was to be held in the Tanzanian section of Loita to wash away the sin of a homicide, yet tradition dictates that ceremonies connected with death are not to be held in the same season as those for fertility.

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