Alberto Botelho

A press photographer who exchanged the press for the cinema in 1906. After travelling almost the whole of Brazil, Alberto Botelho, from Rio de Janeiro (1885-1973), set up a film theatre in São Paulo. However, it was as producer and cinematographer of current events and documentaries that he became famous in the first decades of the century. Hardly any event went by without being filmed by his cameras. He also dedicated himself to filming happenings at the Carnival, and sporting events – sometimes for the French newsreel Pathé Films. His versatility was shown by his combining the functions of chief cameraman and scriptwriter in feature films of Luiz de Barros and by he himself directing four films, three of which openly glorified the qualities of Brazil: Brasil Grandioso (The Grandeur of Brazil, 1923), Dêem Asas ao Brazil (Brazil was given Wings, 1924), and Brasil, Potência Militar (Brazil, Military Power, 1925).