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About
About RAI Film
Meet the team
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Film Distribution
Watch on demand
Ethnographic Film Catalogue
Teaching resources
RAI Film Festival
About RAI Film Festival
Film Festival 2025
Film Festival 2025 Group passes
Film Festival prizes and awards
Film Conference 2025
Archive of past editions
RAI FILM
Login
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
About
About RAI Film
Meet the team
Prices
Film Distribution
Watch on demand
Ethnographic Film Catalogue
Teaching resources
RAI Film Festival
About RAI Film Festival
Film Festival 2025
Film Festival 2025 Group passes
Film Festival prizes and awards
Film Conference 2025
Archive of past editions
Menu
About
About RAI Film
Meet the team
Prices
Film Distribution
Watch on demand
Ethnographic Film Catalogue
Teaching resources
RAI Film Festival
About RAI Film Festival
Film Festival 2025
Film Festival 2025 Group passes
Film Festival prizes and awards
Film Conference 2025
Archive of past editions
Login
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Films
found one film
Region
“East Africa”
x
Keywords
“Gender Role and Identity”
x
Series
“Disappearing World Series”
x
Country of production
“United Kingdom”
x
Year of production
“1974”
x
Status
“A”
x
films with a digital version
1
Region
East Africa
1
x
Country
Kenya
1
Keywords
Gender Role and Identity
1
x
Herding
1
Nomads and Nomadism
1
Ritual
1
Social Change
1
Social Organisation
1
Directors
Curling, Chris
1
Series
Disappearing World Series
1
x
Country of production
United Kingdom
1
x
Year of production
1974
1
x
Status
Film
Masai Women
1974
52
‘
Directed by
Chris Curling
.
The Masai are cattle herders living in the East African rift valley: they grow no crops and are proud of being a non-agricultural people. Cattle are the all-important source of wealth and social status, and Masai love their cattle, composing poems to them. However, it is the men who have exclusive control over rights to cattle, and women are dependent, throughout their lives, on a man – father, husband or son – for rights of access to property. A woman’s status as ‘daughter’, ‘wife’ or ‘mother’ is therefore crucial and this film examines with depth and sensitivity the social construction of womanhood in Masai society, concentrating upon women’s attitudes to their own lives. The film details a series of events in women’s lives, from their circumcision ceremonies which mark their transition from girlhood to womanhood, to the moment when they proudly watch their sons make the transition to elderhood in the eunoto ceremony. This is one of the most admired of the Disappearing World films, not least because of the skill and sensitivity with which these non-literate Masai women are interviewed; the lucidity of their replies provides insights into what it is to be a Masai woman, in a manner which enriches the visual material. The commentary spoken by the anthropologist is detailed without overburdening the image, and the subtitled translations of women’s songs – which express their desire for children and the love they feel for their moran – contribute to making this one of the high points of the series. T. O. Beidelman, 1976. Review of the film. American Anthropologist, Vol. 78, pp. 958–959. P. Spencer, 1975. Review of the film. RAIN, 6, pp. 10–11 (title given as ‘The Masai; see also letter by M. Llewelyn-Davies in RAIN, 8, p.16)
East Africa
Gender Role and Identity
Social Change
Ritual
Social Organisation
Nomads and Nomadism
Herding