Alan Ereira

Bio

Ereira worked at the BBC on television and radio since 1965 contributing documentaries to the Timewatch strand amongst others. He has been awarded the Japan Prize for his 1978 documentary on the Battle of the Somme, and the Royal Television Society Best Documentary Series award for his 1988 documentary on the Armada. Ereira directed a documentary called The Heart of The World: Elder Brother's Warning (1990) for the British Broadcasting Corporation. In this film he documented his unique visits to the Kogi people of Colombia, an indigenous ('Indian') ethnic group which survived attempts by the Spanish conquerors to destroy them by retreating high up in the mountainous area of the Sierra Nevada where they live. These meetings were only allowed by the Kogi Mamos who normally restrict any direct interaction with the modern world. In Ereira's case the Mamos made an exception as they saw him as the filmmaker they wanted to convey their message to the world.