A Documentary overview

Travelogues
"a film picture of sheer adventure, of veiled,
mysterious, unknown tribes, and hidden
robber cities."
A typical example of a British version of the
travelogue is Crossing the Great Sahara (1924)
“A filmed record of Angus Buchanan's
expedition to the Sahel region of the Sahara
in 1922-23. Full of adventure and sensational
footage of the places and people he
encounters.
Although this was presented on one hand as
educational and scientific it also had huge
commercial success.
There is a clear division between the
'primitive' subjects on screen and the
'civilised' British viewer. Locals are paraded in
front of the camera, as the titles emphasise
their distinctive features ("Note the curious
decoration of Cowrie shells") and are
presented almost as animals, crawling on all
fours, dressed in feathers and employing their
'primitive instincts' to dig out anthills.”
(Rice, n.d.)
View and see more info on
BFI Screen Online