Serra Pelada: Gold Rush

2016 • 100 minutes

About this movie

Serra Pelada's discovery in 1979 precipitated one of the world's largest contemporary gold rushes. In a matter of days miners could make hundreds of thousands of dollars as chunks of gold, kilos in weight, were found. Set in the north of Brazil, this beautifully shot documentary tells some of the mountain's secret stories and reveals how some people found fortune or disgrace in one of the biggest gold rush of the twentieth century.

Ratings and reviews

The entire film consists of interviews in Portuguese, with subtitles seemingly translated by a non-native English speaker, and archival footage sprinkled in. Although the producers did a good job weaving the interviews into chronological order, the complete lack of narration, or any explicit context (besides year numbers on the screen), makes this film exceedingly hard to follow. Save your time and find another video or article to learn about Serra Pelada.