The Battle for Laikipia
Daphne Matziaraki and Peter Murimi’s haunting and impressive documentary shows how the lives of local Kenyans are affected both by climate change and colonialism.
Image courtesy of MetFilm Distribution.
The Laikipia plateau in Kenya is a noted area for wildlife conservation and the images of it seen in this documentary replete with roaming animals make it look idyllic. However, the focus of this film made in partnership by the Greek director Daphne Matziaraki and the Kenyan filmmaker Peter Murimi is on another aspect of this area which is, in contrast, both sad and disturbing. This region has long been the home of the Samburu, a semi-nomadic tribe who as pastoralists herd cattle but Laikipia County is also a place that contains ranches run by white residents who in many cases have been settled there many years. One such example seen here is the Dobbs family who first arrived in 1908 so four generations are involved and the younger individuals having been born and bred there very much see themselves as white Kenyans.
When the film gets going, we are informed that the area has been suffering from a drought that has lasted some twelve months, the situation all the more alarming because Simeon Letoole, a Samburu who is strongly featured in the film along with his family, declares of his people that “cattle is life”. The importance that cows have in the lives of this tribe is even signified on a kind of symbolical level since we learn that the animal plays a part in three rituals, those that occur at birth, marriage and death. The various ranches in this region are fenced off but the need of the cattle for somewhere suitable for grazing and for water leads both to requests to the ranch owners to let them in (requests which may well be refused) and to instances of trespassing. The Battle for Laikipia is presented in three sections, the second commencing when the drought enters its eighteenth month and the third six months after that when it is still persisting (it would be two years before it ended).
We learn from the Dobbs family how keeping their land apart in this way has in the past been subject to some give and take in an emergency. However, this exceptional situation pushes things to extremes with increasing desperation leading to increasing tension. In portraying this as it developed Matziaraki and Murimi have added to the tragic poignancy of their film by presenting events from the viewpoint of both the Letoole family and the Dodds family. We see how an impending parliamentary election adds to the turbulence with one candidate, Mathew Lempurkel, promoting the idea that the Samburu have a right to reclaim the land. One can recognise the justification behind that belief, but one is also able to understand the feelings of those like Maria Dobbs whose family have over decades made Laikipia their home. Indeed, the conflict is all the more heartbreaking because one is shown both attitudes and can feel sympathy for both of the families whose lives are portrayed in detail.
If there are no obvious answers here as to how the situation might be improved, that is because the film is too honest to suggest otherwise even if it is wholly positive about Laikipia’s quality as a conservation area. Indeed, while the drought plays a key role in what we see, what unfolds is a portrayal of escalating tensions which all too authentically echo many other situations elsewhere in the world. It is striking too that this one is influenced by recent developments (climate change) and by feelings which have their roots in the past (issues around colonialism). Although Simeon refers admiringly to his grandfather who believed that it was always possible to find a way, one fears that in this instance that is wishful thinking especially as the population is growing.
Ultimately The Battle for Laikipia is a haunting and impressive film although I was not expecting that. There is no commentary and the opening minutes of it – a pre-credit sequence – throw one into the situation in Laikipia with too little detail about what one is witnessing followed by a quick recap on the Mau Mau period and the gaining of independence in 1963 which really needed more exposition. But, once past this ill-judged introduction, the film quickly asserts its grip and the scenes involving both central families feel admirably genuine. Indeed, that is the real triumph of this documentary: many viewers will have limited knowledge about life in Kenya today, but watching this film you get the sense of being present and living it yourself.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Simeon Letoole, Maria Dodds, George Dodds, Tom Silvester, Matt Evans, Joyce Nareu Letoole, Anthony Lengusuranga, Anthony Dodds, Jo Silvester, Martin Evans, John Njenga.
Dir Daphne Matziaraki and Peter Murimi, Pro Toni Kaman and Daphne Matziaraki, Ph Daphne Matziaraki, Peter Murimi and Maya Craig, Ed Sam Soko, Music William R. Fritch.
One Story Up Productions/We Are Not The Machine-MetFilm Distribution.
94 mins. Kenya/USA/Greece. 2024. UK Rel: 4 October 2024. Cert. 12A.
