MetFilm Sales has secured international rights to “The Battle for Laikipia,” Daphne Matziaraki and Peter Murimi’s multi-layered portrait of the conflict between Indigenous pastoralists and white landowners in Kenya. The film had its world premiere as part of the World Cinema documentary section at the Sundance Film Festival.
Submarine Entertainment Sales negotiated the deal with MetFilm on behalf of the filmmakers and is handling North American sales. MetFilm Sales are introducing the film to international buyers at EFM. The film will have its European premiere at CPH:DOX in March.
For centuries, Kenya’s Laikipia region has been a grazing route for Indigenous pastoralist communities. It is also home to white ranchers and conservationists who settled there during the British colonial era and stayed after Kenya’s independence in 1963.
Filmed over a five-year period, “The Battle For Laikipia” captures a range of characters as they confront a rapidly changing world. The Laikipia region has been feeling the ravaging effects of climate change for decades, with the pastoralists, the ranchers and conservancies all relying on the region’s grasslands to sustain their cattle and the wildlife. When drought and elections collide, conflict erupts.
The story goes beyond the headline-grabbing conflict to explore identity, the complicated legacy of British colonialism and the intersection with climate change, all while happening during the most fragile moment of our planet.
“We are very excited to partner with MetFilm to share our film with an international audience,” said Matziaraki and Murimi. “‘The Battle for Laikipia’ gives the audience a front-row seat to lives of people embroiled in a conflict over resources during an intense drought in East Africa. Our film raises universal questions that are current and topical to so many people on our planet. We look forward to advancing a wider debate on climate change, inequality and colonial legacy around the world.”
A One Story Up and We Not The Machine production, “The Battle for Laikipia”is directed by Academy Award nominee and Peabody Award-winning Daphne Matziaraki and International Emmy nominee Peter Murimi. The film is produced by Toni Kamau and Daphne Matziaraki. Executive Producers are Oscar, Emmy and Peabody award winner Roger Ross Williams and Emmy and Peabody award-winning Geoff Martz. Pic is edited by Sam Soko, who won an editing prize at Sundance for “Softie” in 2020, and composed by William Ryan Fritch.
One Story Up’s releases last year included Netflix’s Oscar shortlisted “Stamped from the Beginning,” Hulu’s Primetime Emmy-winning documentary series “The 1619 Project,” Apple TV Plus’ “The Super Models,” season two of Netflix’s “High on the Hog” and A&E’s “TLC Forever.”
Acclaimed Kenyan producer Toni Kamau’s credits include Sundance selection “Softie” and “I Am Samuel,” which premiered at Hot Docs in 2020. She was awarded the 2024 Sundance Institute and Amazon MGM Studios Producers Award for Nonfictionat the latest edition of the Sundance Film Festival for her work on “The Battle for Laikipia.”
MetFilm Sales current slate includes “Wilding,” directed by David Allen, “The Home Game,” directed by Smari Gunn and Logi Sigursveinsson, “The Gullspang Miracle,” directed by Maria Fredriksson, and “Name Me Lawand,” directed by Edward Lovelace.
