The short film Zambezi – Children of the River, shot in Zambia by Dan Lior in collaboration with Zambia’s ministry of tourism and Safari Company, portrays the annual exodus of the Lozi people as they travel from the Barotse floodplains and head for higher ground before the rains hit.
The Lozi live mainly in Barosteland in Western Zambia on an expansive wetland and the film chronicles the Kuomboka (meaning ’emerging out of the waters’) ceremony. The colourful ceremony is led by the tribe’s king and is accompanied by music and traditional dance as the people move from Lealui, the capital on the Barotse floodplains, to Limulunga, the capital on higher ground.
The flood peaks some months after January and February’s rainy season and so the procession sets off in late March or early April. The floodplain may be familiar to keen anglers, as the area is known for its huge tiger fish and bream.
