NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TELEVISION & FILM
Filmed / Directed / Written / Edited by Kire Godal
Sound by Mike Moller

In 2006, Kire, her young son Kinna, and her sound man Mike, lived with the Salei Maasai on the border of Kenya and Tanzania for several months moving back and forth between Kenya and Tanzania as they followed the traditional Eunoto transition from warrior-hood to elder-hood.  This one-of-a-kind film has been translated into many languages, and shown the world over on National Geographic and now on Amazon Prime.

https://www.amazon.com/Massai-...

Seven young warriors - and best friends - from a small village in Kenya are about to go through the most important ceremony of their lives. Their Eunoto ceremony will transform them from glamourous, long haired, carefree warriors to serene, bald, elders within a space of five days. Once they graduate from their Eunoto ceremony, the warriors will give up their lives of freedom, settle down and get married and take on the responsibilities of Maasai elder- hood. They'll also give up the songs and dances of warrior-hood, that defines the lives and spirit of the Maasai people.

22 year old Korisa and his best friend, 23 year old Mushiri, lead their friends through the final month of warrior hood, and on to the long journey to their Eunoto Ceremony over 200 kilometres away in Tanzania. Korisa and Mushiri are philosophical about their upcoming change in status. They have spent seven good years as warriors and are looking forward to the next stage in life. But Mushiri's younger brother Kupente and his best friend Toto, are both only 18 years old, and can't believe their youth is almost over!

With mixed emotions, all seven warriors travel together on foot to the ceremonial site where 900 warriors from the Salei Maasai will gather on a sacred mountain to perform secret and ancient rituals. The Eunoto ceremony includes two days of the red dance. Glistening with red ochre, they will dance the red dance, a tribute to the fiery temper of the Maasai warrior. Then comes two days of white dance, where the warriors dance painted in white chalk, as they are transformed into elders. White is the colour of non-violence, peace and elder-hood. Driven by intense emotion, the Eunoto moves to its climax when all 900 warriors run around the sacred Osingira hut, where only warriors who have not slept with older women are allowed to enter! Will any of the seven Kenyan warriors be allowed inside?

As the ceremony concludes, the long tresses of all 900 warriors are shorn off by their mothers - amidst tears and trembling - and are then blessed into the new generation of Maasai elders. Spend the final month of warrior-hood with the seven warriors from Kenya as they dance the final dances of warrior-hood, reveal their inner most thoughts and share cultural secrets, all while they undergo the most important ceremony of their lives. This ceremony is the largest Salei Maasai Eunoto ceremony to ever take place and the first to be recorded by a film crew.