Movies like no rastro do eldorado

Silvino Simões Santos Silva (1886, Cernache do Bonjardim, Portugal – 14 May 1970, Manaus, Brazil) was a Portuguese-born cinematographer and photographer who emigrated and worked in Brazil. He is known for his role as director of the 1922 film No País das Amazonas, which was one of the earliest documentary films that depicted the Amazon rainforest. In addition to directing various other films about Brazil, Santos documented an expedition with the explorers Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Alexander H. Rice Jr. which was released as the 1924 film No Rastro do Eldorado.

Born in Portugal, Santos left for Brazil early in his life. He practiced photography and was supported by the entrepreneur Julio César Arana, who was involved in the Amazon rubber industry. Arana sponsored Santos' trip to Paris in the early 1910s, where he experimented with cinematography through the Lumiere Brothers' inventions. Upon returning to Brazil with cinema film supplies, Santos created a film documenting Arana's rubber plantations along the Putomayo River. Santos settled in Manaus and around 1918 became involved in Amazônia Cine Film, a production company in the region.