Featuring beautifully hand-drawn land, sea and city-scapes, this is the animated story of Maki, a boy who befriends a giraffe called Zarafa, and how they stick together even when Zarafa is sent to Paris as a gift for the king.

Under a baobab tree, an old man tells a story to a group of children: the story of the undying friendship between 10-year-old Maki and Zarafa, an orphaned giraffe who is a gift from the Pasha of Egypt to the King of France. But Maki doesn’t want Zarafa to go to France. Instead, he goes on a mission to bring his friend back to his native land – even if it means risking his life. Their adventure takes Maki and Zarafa from Sudan to Paris, passing Alexandria, Marseille and the snow-capped Alps, crossing paths with a pilot, a pirate, and a pair of very unusual cows called Mounh and Sounh. Will they succeed in getting Zarafa back to Egypt? This gorgeous French animation offers a unique introduction to the theme of slavery, via Maki’s life from child to man.

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