It sounds like the pitch for a reality show – or a horror film. What happens when you put a group of attractive single adults together on a boat and cast them adrift in the Atlantic Ocean? But it actually describes anthropologist Santiago Genovés’ controversial, headline-generating social experiment. Genovés wanted to study the relationship between sex, violence, and the competition for limited resources. His bold attempt to study human behavior in a unique environment didn’t pan out the way he expected. But it did go on to inspire the new Discovery series Survive the Raft.
The crazy experiment that inspired ‘Survive the Raft’
Survive the Raft brings together nine diverse Americans who are challenged to spend the next 21 days sailing around Panama’s Pearl Islands. The cast members include a beauty pageant queen turned outspoken vegan, a self-described Karen, and a Black rabbi, among others. To survive – and win the...
The crazy experiment that inspired ‘Survive the Raft’
Survive the Raft brings together nine diverse Americans who are challenged to spend the next 21 days sailing around Panama’s Pearl Islands. The cast members include a beauty pageant queen turned outspoken vegan, a self-described Karen, and a Black rabbi, among others. To survive – and win the...
- 8/6/2023
- by Megan Elliott
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Marcus Lindeen’s documentary The Raft boasts such a compelling story that it could have easily coasted on its trove of archival materials. In 1973, Mexican anthropologist Santiago Genovés enlisted ten individuals to sail across the Atlantic Ocean on a small raft, the Acali, in order to study interpersonal behavior and human beings’ relationship with violence. Lindeen had access to eight hours of 16mm footage shot aboard the Acali as well as Genovés’ personal diary. It’s not difficult to imagine a version of The Raft that simply recounts this underreported blip in social history through Genovés’ data. The literal story captivates on its eccentricity alone.
Instead, Lindeen spent almost two years tracking down the experiment’s seven surviving members (Genovés’ used pseudonyms in his research making the participants especially difficult to find) and reunited them aboard a life-size model of the Acali to reenact and revisit scenes from their adventure.
Instead, Lindeen spent almost two years tracking down the experiment’s seven surviving members (Genovés’ used pseudonyms in his research making the participants especially difficult to find) and reunited them aboard a life-size model of the Acali to reenact and revisit scenes from their adventure.
- 6/7/2019
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
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