Warriors

Warriors is a documentary that gives voice, colours and life to a fundamental and historical document. Warriors is a manifesto for the beauty of human rights, a call against prejudice and stereotypes of the Maasai tribe in Kenya and a call for change.

Shot in a delicate and stunning visual style deploying montage sequences and landscape photography at their best, the documentary introduces the audience to the Maasai tribe and its culture.

The first part of the film, all set in Kenya, gives voice to the generational gap between the young and the elder, a gap that sheds light on the tribes’ biggest debates such as the place of women in society, female genital mutilation and the spread of HIV. The new generations fight for women to have a place in society, to have an education and to not undergo circumcision in order to get married.

And it is through the love for cricket that things start changing for the better thanks to the team’s coach Aliya and the British Army who helped building a cricket field.

The story of the team is intertwined with interviews to community members such as the school’s director, young girls who were forced to marry and later escaped dreaming of an education, mothers who want a brighter future for their daughters and young men who want gender equality because women sustain the community.

The Warriors’ battle culminates in their moving journey to London to partake in the Last Man Stands World Championship which brings amateur teams from the world to play for the title.

Warriors teaches a great lesson that can be applied to cultures all over the world. The need to save one’s identity and traditions through change, a change that needs to start from the bad image of the tribe, through education and social awareness.

The Warriors just started their battle and, as they said, the lion has just awakened.