The White Masai

The White Masai (Die weisse Massai, 2005) is a German drama you can watch online on iFILM. Directed by Hermine Huntgeburth and starring Nina Hoss and Jackie Ido, it draws from the memoir Swiss author Corinne Hofmann wrote about her own years living with the Maasai in Kenya.

Carola is in Kenya on a beach trip with her boyfriend when she sees a young Maasai warrior named Lketinga — dressed in red ochre robes, carrying a spear. She ends the relationship on the spot. Stays. Learns the Maa language. Marries him in a village without running water or electricity. The opening stretches have the texture of an unlikely love story.

Then the film shifts register. Patriarchal daily life, sickness, jealousy, the slow weight of a decision made in a moment — Huntgeburth keeps the camera close to Hoss throughout, and Hoss does not let the film soften what it is. Stream The White Masai (2005) online on iFILM.