Last week I had the opportunity to view the National Geographic documentary "Quest for the Lost Maya." This documentary tells the story of the apparent disappearance of the Maya people in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. What made viewing this program unique was is much of this documentary takes place on Millsaps's biological and cultural reserve on the peninsula. Having studied in the Yucatán, I found this documentary especially interesting.
As a film, I thought "Quest for the Last Maya" was very well made. The director mentioned that the projects needed to fight for funding (being a PBS program), and when they acquired funds, still work on a small budget. The story was not sensationalized, it was very smartly told. It focused more on presenting pieces of a historical story rather than trying to remake "apocalypto." Despite this, they did take some liberties in digitally recreating the Mayan ruins. Again, this was done tastefully and without drama.
The part I was most impressed about was what I have deemed "the cave scene." It consisted of shots down a very dark and narrow cave shaft. If it is difficult for me to maneuver a tripod and camera out in the open, I can only imagine how hard it must have been to navigate the equipment in a small cave.
I'm not really sure I would have changed anything or done anything differently. The story was engaging and had a plot. Though there weren't directly main characters, the modern day Maya became the central players of the film.
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