Prior to the 1970s few Westerners came into contact with the cattle and camel-herding pastoralists living in the then-closed Northern Frontier District of Kenya. The Maa-speaking Samburu were known to their allies and rivals, the Rendille, Turkana, Borana and Pokot, and by a few district administrators. Their recent representation in feature films and some of the ways the Samburu have learned through this experience to trade on their own objectification form two aspects of a complex story which are explored in this article. In addition Samburu perceptions of the films and their making were markedly different from those of the filmmakers. These contrasts in interpretation will be examined for what they reveal about cultural identity and its volatility.