This remarkable film, seen through the eyes of one family, documents five years in the life of a South African tribe, the Ndebele, exploring their extraordinary art, culture and traditions. Tribe member Francina Ndimande is an internationally recognised mural artist, as is her daughter Angelina. Their work is commissioned by art collectors all over the world. The film explores the rituals and traditions associated with the rites of passage of both men and women. Francina’s son, Gerald, is featured as he embarks on his two-month initiation into adulthood, or "journey to the mountains of manhood", guided by his elder brother Erasmus. We also follow her granddaughter during her uguthombe, her two-year initiation into womanhood. The Long Tears also traces the history of the Ndebele defeat in war against the Boers over a hundred years ago, and their subsequent enslavement and mistreatment at the hands of the Boer farmers.