Kon-Tiki (1950)

Director
Thor Heyerdahl

Main cast
Thor Heyerdahl; Herman Watzinger; Erik Hesselberg; Knut Haugland; Torstein Raaby

Genres
Documentary

Description
"Kon-Tiki" was the name of a wooden raft used by six Scandinavian scientists, led by Thor Heyerdahl, to make a 101-day journey from South America to the Polynesian Islands. The purpose of the expedition was to prove Heyerdal's theory that the Polynesian Islands were populated from the east---specifically Peru---rather than from the west (Asia) as had been the theory for hundreds of years. Heyerdahl made a study of the winds and tides in the Pacific, and by simulating conditions as closely as possible to those he theorized the Peruvians encountered, set out on the voyage.


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