Even Naïve “Explorers” Can Make History: The 1931 Matto Grosso Expedition
Location
Janet Ayers Academic Center, JAAC 4094
Presentation Type
Presentation
Start Date
21-9-2018 12:00 PM
Description
Not all expeditions that set out from North America to explore the globe’s last “dark corners” in the first decades of the 20th century were staffed by world-class scientists and technical experts; rather, some were staffed by wealthy men whose lack of experience (or academic credentials) was overlooked by their eagerness and bank accounts. Although the Matto Grosso Expedition (1931) typified this type of novicebased expedition, it proved that even naïve explorers can make history. Its documentary film, Matto Grosso: the Great Brazilian Wilderness (1933), that recounted the group’s year in the Pantanal region of western Brazil is considered the first documentary film made on location with synchronous sound capture (ie., the world’s first “talkie” on-site documentary film).
Recommended Citation
Hobson, Eric, "Even Naïve “Explorers” Can Make History: The 1931 Matto Grosso Expedition" (2018). Humanities Symposium. 18.
https://repository.belmont.edu/humanities_symposium/2018/2018/18
Even Naïve “Explorers” Can Make History: The 1931 Matto Grosso Expedition
Janet Ayers Academic Center, JAAC 4094
Not all expeditions that set out from North America to explore the globe’s last “dark corners” in the first decades of the 20th century were staffed by world-class scientists and technical experts; rather, some were staffed by wealthy men whose lack of experience (or academic credentials) was overlooked by their eagerness and bank accounts. Although the Matto Grosso Expedition (1931) typified this type of novicebased expedition, it proved that even naïve explorers can make history. Its documentary film, Matto Grosso: the Great Brazilian Wilderness (1933), that recounted the group’s year in the Pantanal region of western Brazil is considered the first documentary film made on location with synchronous sound capture (ie., the world’s first “talkie” on-site documentary film).
Comments
Convocation Credit: Society and the Arts and Sciences