FACETS CINÉMATHÈQUE
February 2007
The Facets Cinémathèque is located at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. in Chicago. For more information on films playing in the Cinémathèque, please call 773-281-4114. To order advance tickets online, visit the TicketWeb website by clicking here.
Chicago Theatrical
Premiere
MASAI: THE RAIN WARRIORS
(MASSAI: LES GUERRIERS DE LA PLUIE)
"Stunning...While the story itself is fictional, the film is of tremendous documentary value
given its rich display of Masai life."
-BBC
"The earnest minimalism of "Masai" makes it an unusual moviegoing experience."
-Los Angeles Times

"A lush blend of the exotic and the
deeply human... The French filmmakers lend it their special aesthetic/dramatic sense, and the
Masai actors ground the story in everyday realism and humanity. Together, they create a film
and a legend to remember."
-Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Recommended! "The resulting portrait sidesteps ethnography yet conveys the essence of
a magnificent people."
-Chicago Reader
Set in the highlands of Kenya, a timeless place untouched by modernity,
Masai: The
Rain Warriors is the debut fictional film of Pascal Plisson, a devoted nature
documentarian. Faced with a drought that endangers the continuity of their people, the Masai
elders are convinced that they have been cursed by the Red God - the God of Vengeance.
Following the death of the war chief, a group of adolescents must now cross over to
adulthood, forced to quickly form a new generation of inexperienced but brave warriors. The
adolescents must bring back the mane of a legendary lion, Vitchoua, King of the Lions, which
appears at every critical period of Masai history to appease the wrath of the God and bring
back the rains. Armed with courage and spears and eager to prove themselves as warriors and
men, the boys embark on a search for the legendary beast they must find and slay to save
their tribe from extinction. This arrestingly beautiful adventure set in Kenya depicts a
community's quest to bring rain to their land and ensure their survival.
Masai: The Rain
Warriors is the first film to be solely populated by real-life Masai and spoken entirely
in their native tongue.
Directed by Pascal Plisson, 2005, Kenya/France, 35mm, 94 mins. In
Maa with English subtitles.
Official site
New York Times
Variety
Los Angeles Times
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Reader
Showtimes:
Fri., Feb. 2 at 7 & 9 pm
Sat.-Sun., Feb. 3-4 at 3, 5, 7 & 9 pm
Mon.-Thurs., Feb. 5-8 at 7 & 9 pm
Tickets: