A group of people living in ‘space capsules’ – large seminar rooms subdivided into small living quarters - struggle to fight for their ideal way of life in the prosperous yet divided city of Hong Kong.

The dancing begins just after sunrise as the thump of a drum splits the cool morning air in the Mangalatore camp in the vast savannah of the southern Sudan, Africa. A bull's horn wails. A swell of song fills the air. Young men run and leap, legs splayed - this is a traditional Dinka dowry dance. During the dance, men try to jump the highest to impress the women and family of the new bride-to-be. This impressive sight is augmented by their very distinctive appearance - The Dinka are very tall and have deep coloured dark skin, narrow square shoulders, almond-shaped eyes piercing below tribal scars on their foreheads. The Dinka are the south's richest and proudest tribe in Africa's largest country. They are split into twenty or more tribal groups which are further divided into sub-tribes, each occupying a tract of land large enough to provide adequate water and pasture for their herds. Still today, the Dinka lifestyle centres on their cattle: the people's roles within the groups, their belief systems and the rituals they practice, all reflect this. Cattle give milk (butter and ghee); urine is used in washing, to dye hair and in tanning hides. Dung fuels fires from which ash is used to keep the cattle clean and free from blood-sucking ticks, to decorate their bodies and as a paste to clean teeth. Skins are used for mats and drum skins, and belts, ropes and halters are also made from it. Horns and bones are used for a range of practical and aesthetic items.

The area where the Sahara meets the southern grasslands of West Africa is called the Sahel. It stretches between Senegal in the west and Chad in the East. It is home to the Wodaabe, one of the most extraordinary tribes on earth. The Wodaabe are a nomadic tribe numbering perhaps 65,000 in Niger. They are among the last Nomads left in Africa. This film tells the story of three very important ceremonies. Betrothed at the age of seven a girl is finally to be married at 15. A boy is on the verge of becoming a man, learning how to wear Wodaabe makeup. And two young husbands look forward to the Geerewol festival where they will take part in a male beauty contest.

In the vast and arid Northern territories of Kenya live the Pokot people. Known and feared as fierce warriors and cattle rustlers they are in constant conflict with their tribal neighbours. The Pokot remain isolated from the outside world, and continue to follow their ancient traditions and secret ceremonies. Each year during the short rains, they hold sacred Sapana initiation ceremonies for their young men. A boy must have his ceremony if he wants to join the ranks of his elders and become a warrior. Lomali is 22 years old, and has not had his ceremony yet. He is overdue, but his family cannot afford the great expense. A few years ago his father died, and the family herd of 85 cattle was rustled by neighbouring tribal enemies, leaving his family destitute. Luckily a family friend, Chief Joshua steps in and donates a camel and grain for brewing traditional beer needed for the ceremony. Lomali and his family rejoice as better days are on the way. Lomali's friend, 19 year old Shokon is also ready to have his Sapana ceremony. He faces none of the hardship of Lomaili, as his father is rich in cattle and has eight wives and 18 children. As a ranking elder in the community, Shokon's father decides to combine Shokon's Sapana with Lomali's, so that they can share the experience. The weeks pass, and Lomali and Shokon attend many local ceremonies and dances where they meet potential wives. The day of the Sapana ceremony breaks with heavy rain, and both Lomali and Shokon must each sacrifice their own camel with a spear and have its intestines read and their future foretold by a soothsayer.

Seven young warriors - and best friends - from a small village in Kenya are about to go through the most important ceremony of their lives. Their Eunoto ceremony will transform them from glamourous, long haired, carefree warriors to serene, bald, elders within a space of five days. Once they graduate from their Eunoto ceremony, the warriors will give up their lives of freedom, settle down and get married and take on the responsibilities of Maasai elderhood. They'll also give up the songs and dances of warriorhood, that defines the lives and spirit of the Maasai people. 22 year old Korisa and his best friend, 23 year old Mushiri, lead their friends through the final month of warrior hood, and on to the long journey to their Eunoto Ceremony over 200 kilometres away in Tanzania. Korisa and Mushiri are philosophical about their upcoming change in status. They have spent seven good years as warriors and are looking forward to the next stage in life. But Mushiri's younger brother Kupente and his best friend Toto, are both only 18 years old, and can't believe their youth is almost over! With mixed emotions, all seven warriors travel together on foot to the ceremonial site where 900 warriors from the Salei Maasai will gather on a sacred mountain to perform secret and ancient rituals. The Eunoto ceremony includes two days of the red dance. Glistening with red ochre, they will dance the red dance, a tribute to the fiery temper of the Maasai warrior. Then comes two days of white dance, where the warriors dance painted in white chalk, as they are transformed into elders. White is the colour of non-violence, peace and elder-hood. Driven by intense emotion, the Eunoto moves to its climax when all 900 warriors run around the sacred Osingira hut, where only warriors who have not slept with older women are allowed to enter! Will any of the seven Kenyan warriors be allowed inside? As the ceremony concludes, the long tresses of all 900 warriors are shorn off by their mothers - amidst.

Forty five thousand Hamar live in Southern Ethiopia with the Omo River on their western border. Like many other Ethiopian people they are a pastoral tribe whose only wealth is in their livestock. This is the story of two young men readying themselves for two very different but crucial social ceremonies.

A five-year funeral and the coming of age bull run, failure for either men means family humiliation and tribal rejection. Berqi works his father's fields, lives in his father's house even though his father died five years ago. But in a few testing days all that might change as Berqi struggles to come out from under his father's shadow. In Hamar custom the dead man is slowly socially undone for his son to emerge as the next man in the family line. Five years after his fathers death Burqi must provide a funeral celebration proving he is this man. Burqi's father died five years ago but only now can his funeral ceremonies begin.

For three days family, friends and neighbours will come together to remember the dead man, they'll be fed and provided with local beer as they mourn and say goodbye to Berqi's father Suri. Berqi is not a rich man and will need to prove to the visiting mourners that he has wealth; to do this he must provide enough food and beer to demonstrate that he is a worthy successor to Suri. If he cannot, Berqi will become a worthless outcast losing his father's family legacy. Gele is a boy, loved and nurtured by his family. Now it's time for him to leave home and become a man; but first his sisters have to suffer, be beaten for him, then he has to prove himself to everyone.