In 2009, Five people involved in working with the preservation of the atlantic forest biosphere in the state of Rio de Janeiro were brought together by a singular gesture of igniting a marine flare and letting it be documented in an uninterrupted 1 minute film sequence.
The VW campervan took the BR 101 motorway from Rio to Paraty to research the impact of the 18th century gold rush on the most densely covered area of Atlantic Forest in South East Brazil.
At the entrance to the Estrada Real (Royal Road) on a cobbled XVII C. road, extending 1,200 km towards the interior city of Ouro Preto in Minas Gerais State, Mr. Bee, a historian and guide is one of three guards who physically polices and protects the Ecological Reserve Juatinga. An area od Mata Atlântica Forest that spans over 9,000 hectares.
Mr. Bee became the first person to accept to ignite a marine flare whislt telling the story of this road’s construction and how it took 95 days to travel by foot to the region of the mines. Originally an indigenous track, this road led the Portuguese settlers accompanied by slaves to the riches of gold, diamonds and precious minerals which were extracted and then exported to Europe.
The last action was my own, which from the top of the sugar loaf was recorded as a miniscule dot in the landspace.
