1993 Sam Fuller persuaded Jim Jarmusch on a trip into Brazil's Mato Grosso, hoping to find people who remember him, as 40 years ago he was to scout and write a script for a movie about a tigrero, a jaguar hunter.

This documentary is an amazing journey into heart and soul of Karaja people who teach the viewers a humble lesson of humanity.

SAMUEL FULLER + JIM JARMUSH

In 1954, filmmaker and polymath Samuel Fuller was given a special assignment by Fox Studios. Grabbing his 9mm Beretta and a handful of cigars, Fuller ventured deep into the Brazilian rainforest to capture 16mm test footage and scout locations for a movie about a jaguar hunter – a movie that sadly never materialised, apparently due to insurance wrangles. Fuller never forgot his first trip to Brazil, and forty years later he returned to retrace his steps and revisit the people of the Mato Grosso who had made him so welcome four decades previously.

Fuller brings along auteur filmmaker and protege Jim Jarmusch, and the intrepid duo venture deep into Karaja territory to see how the region and its people have changed in the intervening years.

TRAVELOGUE?

Taken at face value, Tigrero is a travelogue – a fairly successful one at that – but what really makes it worth viewing is the hugely entertaining double act of Fuller and Jarmusch being captured at their most vulnerable. Occasionally poignant, and often hilarious, their journey is one of rediscovery, but it’s the Mato Grosso that steals the show with its welcoming people and heartbreakingly beautiful scenery.

Director Mika Kaurismaki captures the journey with his typical eye for the absurd and his masterful command of the camera.

Tigrero was well received on its release, winning International critics Award at the Berlin festival, and deserves to be revisited if only to witness Jim Jarmusch’s discomfort as he treads very carefully amongst the wildlife in his Ramones tee and shades.