Until recently science has dismissed the idea saying the rain forest couldn’t sustain large population. But today a new generation if scientific explorers is uncovering evidence of a massive civilization deep in the Amazon.
In 1542 conquistador Francesca de Orellan was searching for El Dorado the mythical city of gold but he got got hopelessly lost. A diary was kept of his epic adventure which tells of of a huge and sophisticated population living in a network of gleaming white cities.
In 1925 British adventurer Colonel Percy Fawcett was convinced he knew where to find one of the lost cities and set off into the jungle, where he was never heard of again.
Archeologist Eduardo Neves has found more than a hundred ancient sites around the city of Manaus in central Amazon. Man-made soil, more than a thousand years old has been found all across the rainforest . The combined soil discovered so far would cover an area the size of France. Even today, it’s one of the most fertile soils ever discovered and yet no-one knows how it was made.
With the aid of satellite photographs Michael Heckenerger has unveiled a huge complex of villages connected by 150 feet wide roads, into what he calls a ‘sprawling city like modern Los Angeles.. Today the Kuikuro tribe live much as they did 500 years ago. Heckenbverger reveals how they survived and prospered in the jungle.
Credits
Produced, Directed & Written by
PHILIP J. DAY
Producer
WILLIAM MARTENS
Editor
COLIN HARGRAVES
Narrator
PETER COYOTE
Cinematography
JASON BLOUNT
ROY KURTLUYAN
Original Music
J. GRANT BUCKERFIELD
DARREN BOLING
Art Director
LORI STOUTENBURG
Costume Designers
KATHRYN SHEMANEK
CYNTHIA OBSENARES
Makeup Artist
JOSEFINE WISSENBERG
Production Managers / Brazil
BETO MELLO
BLUMA GAMERMAN
Assistant Camera
DJALMA PECANHA
MICHAEL SKOR
Gaffer
AARON TORRES
Dolly Grip
ERIC WENDELL
Key Production Assistant
ANDREW FYFE HALL
Production Assistants
DANA STROM
CAROL LEMOS
Construction Supervisor
DON VISEL
Additional Cinematography
COLIN HARGRAVES
PHILIP J DAY
Wardrobe Assistants
HAZEL YUAN
ALISON MCELWEE
Colorist
STEVE JOHNSON
Sound Mixers
DARREN BOLING
J. GRANT BUCKERFIELD
Graphics & Visual Effects Artist
CALDER GREENWOOD
Coordinator, Art & Animation
SHANA KIM
Production Manager
HILARY BURKE
Production Coordinators
ALEXANDER S. JOSEPH
PATRICK HARE
Translators
JACQUELINE GRACIE
CLAUDIA CIUFFO DA SILVA
FERNANDA TRUPIANO
Researcher
AARON EVEN
Director, Research
TODD HERMANN
Specialist, Programming
MELISSA MARCUS
Specialist, Production Rights and Clearances
KATIE LEE
Manager, Production Rights and Clearances
MARLENE WALKER-GOLDEN
Post Production Supervisor
DEBBIE NATHANSON
Post Production Coordinator
JAMES ORR
Manager, Post Production Operations
BRADEN MCILVAINE
Assistant Editor
DANA STROM
Specialist, Facilities & Scheduling
MARCIE CALLAHAN
Manager, Facilities & Scheduling
JULIA WHITCOMB SHEEHY
Manager, Art and Animation
JESSE GORDON
Director, Engineering Global Media
DWIGHT MAYHEW
For National Geographic Television
Director, Art and Animation
KEITH KOLDER
Director, Production Rights and Clearances
CATHERINE YELLOZ
Director, Operations
TRACI C. DRUMMOND
Vice President, Operations
MICHAEL CASTRO
Series Producer
MAX SALOMON
Senior Producer
ROBERT ZAKIN
Executive Producer
JONATHAN HALPERIN
Senior Vice President, Series
KATHY DAVIDOV
Senior Vice President, Standards and Practices
SCOTT WYERMAN
Vice President, Explorer Development
MALVINA MARTIN
Executive Vice President, Development
MARYANNE CULPEPPER
President, NGT
MICHAEL ROSENFELD
Special Thanks
DR. MICHAEL HECKENBERGER
DR. EDUARDO GÓES NEVES
ASSOCIAÇÃO KUIKURO INDIGENA DO ALTO XINGÚ
SATERÉ MAWÉ TRIBE
AFUKAKA KUIKURO
MUTUÁ KUIKURO MEHINAKO
JACOLO KUIKURO
F.U.N.A.I. – FUNDAÇÃO NACIONAL DO ÍNDIO
A.N.C.I.N.E. – AGÊNCIA NACIONAL DO CINEMA, BRAZIL
COORDENAÇÃO GERAL DE ESTUDOS E PESQUISAS DA F.U.N.A.I.
MUSEU DE ARQUEOLOGIA E ETNOLOGIA, SÃO PAOLO
THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY ARBORETUM
THE CITY OF ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA
KELLY HEARN
DR. CARLOS FAUSTO
Stock Footage
FRANK AND FRANCES CARPENTER COLLECTION
ALWAYSHD.COM
BYRON MOORE
MIKE LIU
DR. MICHAEL HECKENBERGER
MUSEU DE ARQUEOLOGIA E ETNOLOGIA, SÃO PAOLO
For National Geographic Channel
Executive Producer
KATHLEEN CROMLEY
Senior Vice President, Production & Development
JULIET BLAKE
Production Manager
KAREN GREENFIELD
Unit Manager
ASHLEY LORENZO
Production Assistant
AYAANA ANTOINE
Executive in Charge of Production
STEVE BURNS
Produced by
Edge West, LLC for National Geographic Television
© 2008 NGHT, INC.
All Rights Reserved
1 Comments
justin says:
November 13, 2009 at 5:23 pm
This is a really nice film, I love the subject. The presentation was amazing and very interesting … big fan of your work.