Captured on film: 1930 expedition footage reveals life in the Brazilian wilderness
In short: This silent footage features outtakes from the 1931 film Matto Grosso, the Great Brazilian Wilderness. It captures expedition members and local Bororo people fishing, offering a rare, if likely staged, glimpse into the methods and interactions of a 1930 expedition in Brazil.
Filmed by Floyd Crosby and Arthur Rossi in 1930, these outtakes provide a raw look at the activities of the Matto Grosso expedition. The footage documents various fishing techniques, including the use of lines, spears, and bows and arrows by a São Lourenço Bororo man. Beyond the fishing, the film captures interactions between expedition member George Rawls and the local community, including scenes in a dugout canoe.
The footage is notable for its lack of a soundtrack and its inclusion of likely staged sequences, such as a greeting in the village and a man squatting by the river. These trims, transferred at a slow frame rate, serve as a historical record of the expedition's attempt to document the region, highlighting both the practical realities of survival and the performative nature of early ethnographic filmmaking.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Matto Grosso Fishing
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