Hot Docs 2024: The Battle for Laikipia Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Hot Docs Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

Laikipia County is a region in Kenya where there is a land dispute between English-descendant farmers and the Samburu pastoralists. Amidst a severe drought, tension rises when Samburu’s cattle invade the farmer’s territory. Bloodbaths and constant fear set in the region for an extended period. The Battle for Laikipia shines a light on this situation and its subsequent developments. The film, directed by Daphne Matziaraki and Peter Murimi, shifts the narrative between two themes: farming and colonialism. The first, tackling cattle creation and territory, takes up most of the film. The severity of the drought can be seen on screen: dry grass, skinny ox, and little water flowing in the ground. All of this makes for an interesting visual construction. 

However, the complexion of the debate feels flat. The territorial aspect and colonialism need to be adequately debated. The farmers’ families has been present in that county since 1908. Regardless, it needs to be sufficiently stated that they were there for colonial reasons. Choosing to leave this issue to its last thirty minutes, it goes without saying that there should have been more here. While the film had the potential to truly address the conflict, it instead leant more toward its visual construction more than its textual one. In the end, the main problem of the film is how it spent its time repeating and not the evolution of the consequences of the farmer-Samburu conflict: tribal ancestors were killed and English descendants were involved through heavily gunned unofficial armies. This dichotomy needs to be adequately explored when it could. The colonial practices are not anointed as the reason for that conflict. This may be due to the directors’ neutral approach, but the film does not focus enough to reflect these issues. 

The Battle for Laikipia thrives visually and boasts an exciting plotline. However, the choices from its directors choices and its lack of focus keeps it limited. The film just needed to be more up front with the consequences of its central conflict. While its premise is a fascinating one, it is one that should have been handled more appropriately. 

still courtesy of Hot Docs

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Pedro Lima

Brazilian film writer. He is also a producer and executive producer for Zariah Filmes. Member of the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA), International Documentary Association (IDA), and Gotham and Media Film Institute.