Once again, Peter leads a group of Chagga-speaking men down the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania and across the border into neighbouring Kenya. There, they meet with a group of Kamba-speaking elders to butcher animals and pour milk, beer, and blood on the ground for their distant forebear Horombo, requesting rain in return. More than 60 years after Peter first accompanied his grandfather, the last colonial ‘chief’ of the area, Mangi Tengia, this is his final trip to the plains, hoping to bring rain for their continued existence.
Returning Life is an ethnographic film documenting a unique ceremony that simultaneously crosses linguistic, ethnic, and international boundaries. It reveals the hospitality and generosity of subsistence farmers in this part of East Africa, and shows their abiding care for the environment, as well as their respect for the past and concern for the future.
The film is made by professor Knut Christian Myhre, NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), professor emeritus Frode Storaas, University Museum of Bergen, and Frode Ims, Learning Lab, University of Oslo. It is a visual companion to the monograph Returning Life: Language, Life Force and History in Kilimanjaro (Berghahn Books in 2018) by Knut Christian Myhre.
Please keep in mind that although the film is more or less done, some cuts and edits are still necessary. Therefore, the creators invite you to an informal film screening where they welcome an open debate and suggestions on its form and content.