1. Shepherds of the Earth
The region of Lake Turkana, located in Kenya and Ethiopia, is considered to be “the Cradle of Humankind”. Among other finds, primate fossils from millions of years ago have been discovered in the region. But what about the region’s modern inhabitants and their relationship to their environment? Iiris Härmä, whose previous work includes the award-winning Leaving Africa, had the chance of joining Helsinki University’s researchers, Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares and Mar Cabeza, on their pre-pandemic trip to study the Daasanach people’s relationship to their environment through traditional animal tales. The researchers hope that storytelling would help to bridge the gap between people’s everyday lives and conservation efforts.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
2. Mila Tu. Becoming a Massaï woman without mutilation (Mila Tu. Devenir femme Massaï sans l'excision)
Evokes the personal trajectory of a Tanzanian Massai woman refusing genital mutilation. Directed by two NGO volunteers from Luxemburg working on a development project in Tanzania. Released in 2009, this film has been broadcasted since in various film festivals in Europe, on the occasion of different AR actions in Luxemburg and on national television .
3. Cinema Dadaab (Cinema Dadaab)
In one of the world's largest and oldest refugee camps, Dadaab, the inhabitans survive by watching films and dreaming. The refugees cannot leave the camp, but they let their minds escape the harsh reality: by going to the simple cinema hall run by Abdikafi Mohamed, the film's protagonist.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
4. Trek - Spy on the Wildebeest
Each year over 1.2 million wildebeest travel across the vast Serengeti plains and Kenya's Masai Mara on a 1,800 kilometer circular journey, relentlessly followed by every big African predator. Revolutionary spy cams - airborne, swimming or disguised as rocks, skulls or dung - reveal the Great Wildebeest Migration from entirely new perspectives. This 2-part series focuses on the growing-up of a calf as he takes his first steps, faces his first deadly perils and tries to cross crocodile-infested rivers. It combines natural humor with exciting drama and gripping music.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
5. Still Alive - Dramma Sul Monte Kenya (Still Alive - Dramma Sul Monte Kenya)
(Still Alive - Dramma Sul Monte Kenya)
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
6. Wild Daze
In Africa, poachers brutally maim and kill elephants for their ivory, much of which is exported to China or smuggled into the United States. The profits help fund terrorist organisations, and are used to buy guns and artillery. WILD DAZE takes an unflinching look at these problems from various perspectives, and shows how the slaughter has decimated the elephant population, left survivors traumatised, and seriously harmed the forests of Eastern and Southern Africa.
It has an average vote of 9 on TMDB.
7. Maasai Daughters
Short documentary about the lives of three girls and the women who rescued them from retrogressive cultural practices in their own Maasai community at the AIC Girls School and Rescue Center in Kajiado, Kenya. It is an intimate portrait of these women as they sacrifice everything to make a stand against female genital mutilation and early forced marriage happening within their own culture.
8. A Blooming Business
A documentary about people in Kenya who are imprisoned by the global flower industry. The dilemmas of the industry become painfully clear and a dark world of oppression, sexual abuse and terrible working conditions unfolds. There is only one conclusion possible: the smell of the imported rose is not sweet, but bitter.
It has an average vote of 6.3 on TMDB.
9. Terror at the Mall
A documentary detailing an indiscriminate terrorist attack that left 71 dead in Kenya.
It has an average vote of 7.9 on TMDB.
10. TEN MONTHS (MIEZI KUMI)
MIEZI KUMI is a short documentary of the love between Zacharia Mutai, his family and the last two northern white rhinos, which he has to take care of for ten months in a year.
11. Women, Maasai and rangers - The lionesses of Kenya (Femmes, Massaïs et Rangers - Les lionnes du Kenya)
Leah and Purity are rangers in the Kenyan bushland. They roam around Amboseli National Park every day to track down wildlife. The Maasai shepherds also have their villages here. Conflicts can hardly be avoided. The young women are often called to missions to mediate or comfort. The two Maasai women themselves have to fight against discrimination
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
12. 100 Seconds to Beat the World
The story of Kenyan athlete David Rudisha, the greatest 800m runner the world has ever seen, and his unusual coach, the Irish Catholic missionary Brother Colm O'Connell.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
13. Safari Ya Gari
This early travelogue film, made in a Kenyan train station, captures an impromptu musical performance. Some passengers eagerly join in while others sleep—blissfully unaware of the performance taking place around them.
14. The Donkey that Carried the Cloud on its Back
In the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Kenya, there is an island. On this island there is a stone town; its stone buildings stand as skeletons of the splendor of its yesteryears. High tide, low tide, Full moon, new moon. Lamu is an island frozen in time. Now Africa’s largest port is being constructed. In order to evolve, what part of ourselves do we keep and what part do we leave behind?
15. Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai
This documentary provides a window into the extraordinary life of activist and Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan woman who has worked to regain ownership of her country and its fate after years of colonialism. While gentle and thoughtful, Maathai carries a powerful message: the First World holds much of the responsibility for the environmental, economic and social struggles of the developing world.
It has an average vote of 6.2 on TMDB.
16. Below the Sahara
The photographic record of an African expedition led by producer-explorer Armand Denis and his photogenic and camera-toting wife Michaela, who goes bird-riding at an ostrich farm. The expedition ranges from the central interior jungles and mountains to both coasts and as far south as Capetown, and ends with a gorilla hunt led by natives using 100-year-old muskets.
It has an average vote of 3.5 on TMDB.
17. Tribo Massai - Guerreiros da Fé (Tribo Massai - Guerreiros da Fé)
(Tribo Massai - Guerreiros da Fé)
18. Across the World with Mr. and Mrs. Johnson
As if they were showing their film to a few friends in their home, the Johnsons describe their trip across the world, which begins in the South Pacific islands of Hawaii, Samoa, Australia, the Solomons , and New Hebrides. Thence on to Africa via the Indian Ocean, Suez Canal, North Africa, and the Nile River to lion country in Tanganyika. Taking a safari in the Congo, the Johnsons see animals and pygmies, and travel back to Uganda, British East Africa, and Kenya.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
19. Das Wunder von Nairobi - Noten der Hoffnung (Das Wunder von Nairobi - Noten der Hoffnung)
(Das Wunder von Nairobi - Noten der Hoffnung)
20. Finding Hope Home
The story of Pastor Lucy and her husband Duncan Ndegwa, who began feeding and sheltering children from the streets of Nairobi, Kenya in 1996.
It has an average vote of 5.3 on TMDB.
