
Directed by Giuseppe Bucciarelli (who will be present for the occasion) and produced by Laikipia Wildlife Forum
Where: At the Italian Institute of Culture – Michelangelo Hall
When: on Thursday, 23rd February 2012 at 7.00pm.
Free entry
There is a place in Africa where a mountain meets the sky… A place where rivers, forests and savannas play a never-ending game with people. This place is Laikipia, central Kenya. Here dangerous wildlife shares the land with thousands of farmers and their livestock. A perfect combination for trouble… But despite all odds the people living in Laikipia are doing their best to make a dream come true: in this region of Kenya co-existence between the needs of humans and the necessities of wildlife is a well established and solid reality. Follow Max Graham, an elephant researcher, while he tracks down the giants of the savannah using an innovative SIM card device to stop pachyderms from raiding farmers’ crops. Join Anthony King, a renowned Kenyan conservationist, in his fight to stop land degradation and erosion in the Laikipia region. Meet the Maasai people while trying to bridge the gap between their tribal traditions and a modern cash economy.
The documentary “Laikipia, the Land of Life” shows the reality of modern Africa and brings to the world the voices of the people living in an entire region of the continent who are contributing in the creation of a successful conservation model in a fast-changing world.
Giuseppe Bucciarelli is a biologist with more than ten years of research experience in molecular biology, genetic fish population, speciation, foreign species invasion and genome evolution.
For three years (2002 – 2005) he lived on board his yacht “Maruzza”, sailing the Mediterranean from Corsica to the Suez Canal ending in the Middle East where he spent several months travelling in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. He spent the winter months of these years between North Africa, the Pacific Ocean and the southern regions of Venezuela where he explored the cultures spreading along the Orinoco and Rio Negro rivers. Those inspiring experiences led him to film making. As a consequence he produced and directed the multi-awarded documentary “Ahmed and the Return of the Arab Phoenix”. He now lives in Kenya as an independent film maker, making documentaries on conservation-related issues.