Lion Brotherhood

Filmed over a 30 month period, this film follows two male lions, Tau and Banda, as they are brought up within the powerful Xakanaka pride in the wilds of MoremiNational Park, Botswana.

Buffalo are the centre of life for the Xakanaka pride and the pride’s lionesses are in charge of hunting. The brothers aren’t burdened with this responsibility at all in their early months - the daily skirmishes with the buffalo are moments of fun and daring, places to test and hone their skills as hunters. In their games and adventures, we see that Tau is the risk taker, always eager to test himself to the limits, while Banda is cautious, preferring to watch and wait.

But childhood doesn’t last forever and it’s a quick step up to adulthood when Tau and Banda are expelled from their family unit and forced to survive alone. They enter the most dangerous life-phase of male lions - nomads with no territory to call home.

Meals are no longer guaranteed and buffalo is off the menu completely. The brothers live in constant fear. Everywhere is enemy territory; every piece of land claimed by bigger, stronger males. The film reveals how they make a life for themselves as outlaws, moving between territories, hiding in the shadows and keeping a low profile. They are hunted and chased as intruders. Food, when they find it, must be stolen or scavenged.