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- 2019
- Oscilloscope
- 1 h 19 m
- 2019
- Oscilloscope
- 1 h 19 m
Summary In the Kenyan bush, a small-time ivory dealer fights to stay on top while forces mobilize to destroy his trade. When he turns to his younger cousin, a conflicted wildlife ranger who hasn't been paid in months, they both see a possible lifeline.
- 2019
- Oscilloscope
- 1 h 19 m
- 2019
- Oscilloscope
- 1 h 19 m
When Lambs Become Lions
75
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Where to Watch
Summary In the Kenyan bush, a small-time ivory dealer fights to stay on top while forces mobilize to destroy his trade. When he turns to his younger cousin, a conflicted wildlife ranger who hasn't been paid in months, they both see a possible lifeline.
Where to Watch
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
75
93% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
75
93% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Adding to the fraught complexities of economic insecurity and environmental devastation, When Lambs Become Lions wraps its story in a sweep of broodingly gorgeous imagery.
Filmed over the course of three years and clocking in just over 70 minutes (minus credits), When Lambs Become Lions is a triumph of shrewdly economical storytelling on the part of Kasbe and his co-editors Frederick Shanahan and Caitlyn Greene.
It’s a striking, human portrait of men in trouble, looking for escape and possibly redemption.
The title of When Lambs Become Lions could refer to any of its subjects: One way or another, everyone involved is endangered and fighting for survival.
That Kasbe, who also shot and co-edited, so firmly embedded himself in this distant, hardscrabble world results in a wealth of candid, you-are-there moments that highlight the complex intersection between the fraught state of wildlife preservation and the desperate scramble for human survival.
It’s unlikely that any documentary could make us feel half as bad for the poachers as we do for their prey, which might not even be Kasbe’s aim. He succeeds in bringing shades of grey to a situation usually thought of in black-and-white terms — not enough to change many minds, perhaps, but at least enough to open some.
I’m not sure that I was completely on board with this film, which appears to have smoothly carpentered its narrative in the edit. Is it almost too good to be true?
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Production Company
Fusion Media Group,
Kasbe Films,
The Documentary Group
Release Date Nov 22, 2019
Duration 1 h 19 m
Genres
Awards
Docudays UA International Documentary Human Rights Film Festival
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Tribeca Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
International Documentary Association
• 2 Nominations