Really hard be a good Masai

The viewer is placed in the middle of the action when young Morani-warriors put on quite a show for the tourists and try to energize their audience. Characteristic of the film´s complexity is the depiction of making fire: over five minutes in length, we realize the young Morani are not familiar with the old tradition of fire lighting. “Really hard be good Masai” is direct cinema in a literal sense: an amazing film that carries the viewer along, without a manipulative soundtrack or the filmmaker’s intervention.

Tourists on the way! Doch die jungen Morani-Krieger sind längst nicht mehr vertraut mit der Tradition des Feuermachens. Als es endlich gelingt, wird übermütig gefeiert. Beim Tanzen in die Kamera setzt es aus heiterem Himmel ein knuckle sandwich. Inspiriert vom Cinema direct gibt der Film Einblicke in das Leben heutiger Massai-Teenager jenseits von Voyeurismus und gängigen Fremdklischees.

Jurybegründung Award “Best Cinema-Direct”

“Knowing full well that she’s not the first person to make a film at this kind of location, director Gabriele Neudecker dispenses with the conventions of television reports: She doesn’t provide wellrounded portraits of young Masai to become men, or “what’s he doing now” stories, or classic human interest stories, which automatically come to mind in connection with the subject. “Really hard be good Masai” takes a different approach, presenting brief, intense episodes about the daily routine of adolescent Masai-warriors. This work can’t be termed exaggeratedly solicitous: Neudecker also thematizes, in a finely calibrated mixture of discretion and explicit voyeurism, the role of the young men between guardian of tradition, modern teenager or tourist attraction.”

AUFFÜHRUNGEN

Internationale Filmfestivals (u.a. Festival de Cine de Bogota (FIAPF-recognized), International Film and New Media Festival, Nairobi, Anchorage Film Festival, Festival Internacional de Cortometrajes del Cusco FENACO in Peru, Film Festival Monrovia “Through the lens” in Liberia, “Filmski Front” – Int. Film Festival Novi Sad in Serbia), World Film Festival Houston, Athens international film and video festival in Ohio "Oscar-Booster", Documenta Madrid 2011, London International Documentary Festival), Vorfilm in Kenia, Tansania und Südafrika, DAS KINO sowie bei den AMREF Austria Days of Dialogue.

PRODUKTION

Pimp the Pony Productions

Contact: Pimp the Pony Productions
Tödtleinsdorf 46, A-5203 Köstendorf bei Salzburg
T: +43 664 2505656

office@pimptheponyproductions.com
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