Division Member Dr Lorenzo D’Angelo has just published a short film in Visual Ethnography. Through the voice of Philipo, a young Maasai man, the film explores the difficulties faced by an agro-pastoral community in Tanzania, as a time of climate crisis stimulates cultural and economic changes. The piece emphasizes the importance of the Oreteti, a plant that is at the center of their rain-making ritual. The Oreteti is associated with the possibility of overcoming difficulties in times of crisis, as well as with fertility and women. It is no coincidence that women play a fundamental role in the rainmaking ritual; without their presence and their prayers, it would lose its meaning.
The film bears witnesses to a crucial change in Philipo’s community, a change that also affects the meaning and indeed the existence of the rain-making ritual. The full video is available here.
