The article analyzes the construction of an image of Brazil by North-Americans. The documents produced by the Conselho de Fiscalização das Expedições Científicas e Artísticas Nacionais were examined, trying to identify the significance of that image for governmental agencies and representatives. That examination encompasses the approach of boundary objects related to political relations between Brazil and United States. The article focuses on a set of documentary films produced with support from the Office of Inter-American Affairs, headed by Nelson Rockefeller, and the Brazilian government during the 1940s. These films are considered boundary objects because they represent different perspectives of the developed country on the natural exuberance and political and economic potential of a continental country which began to forge itself as a nation in full development, with its own institutions for heritage policies. In this context, the documentary films represented much more than a portrait of an eccentric Third World country. They represented a complex political strategy between both countries in favor of progress and commercial integration according to North-American rules.
Documentary film; Amazon; Brazil-United States relationships; Boundary objects; Historical heritage