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This silent amateur film, a home movie shot in the 1940s, brings viewers a slice of life from Lima, Peru -- for what we believe to be the Mardi Gras parade and a bullfight. (Note: Today the question of whether or not the bullfight is adhering to long standing traditions or simply senseless animal cruelty clouds the bull ring. Five states within the country of Mexico, for instance, have banned bullfighting.) The film opens as a young woman steps from her modern condo home into her vehicle to join the spectators watching the parade (:08). The courtyard is littered with pedestrians awaiting the procession of floats surrounded by skinny palms and costumed dolls (:36). The building shown at (1:37) is the Edificio La Republica in downtown Lima. A line of costumed figures hang attached to the streetlights (1:40). Another appears in traditional Peruvian attire holding two baskets (1:50). A puppet in a black suit hangs in front of modern apartment homes (2:01). Puppets line the streets (2:09). The trolley passes by (2:15). A police officer on a motorcycle zips by the bottom right corner of the screen (2:19). A family waves to the camera from the back of their pickup truck (2:32). Mexican horsemen ride down the line with tiny red flags (3:11). They pause and blow their brass instruments (3:22). A large float appears with a donkey and a colorful clown (3:33). Red clowns play on the back of a truck (3:42). Women in green toss streamers into the crowd (3:46). A massive dinosaur float moves in behind (3:52). The Historic Center of Lima appears in the back left corner (4:17). A woman in white waves as evening settles over the parade (4:25). A bull moves around the center of the Plaza de Toros de Acho already stuck with banderillos (4:45). Two matadors taunt the animal with their muleta (4:48). A solo matador faces the bull (5:15) as spectators watch anxiously. The pair move to the center ring (5:37). The bull lays down as three matadors approach (6:17). The bull leads as they head to the edge of the ring (6:25). The bull is killed as a knife is slipped through the neck and between the ribs (6:31). The audience stands and applauds (6:36). Horses race around the center smoothing over the sand (6:55). A mountain from the Ajusco range hangs above the ring (7:24). Colorful matadors stream into the ring (7:35). A picador performs dressage (7:44) as their horse cross steps through the ring (7:44). The rider’s job is to stab the bull in the neck in order to weaken it. The picador stands amid bouquets of flowers (8:04). They take one while holding a white bird (8:10). A second bull fight appears (8:22) as the bull scrapes the ground with his toe. He charges and they dance the bullfighting dance in a zig zag pattern across the sand (8:28). The picador takes a swing at the bull (8:33). Picador and bull fight close here (9:58). Three other matadors join the ring (10:17). A close dark shot shows the bull against a railing with the banderillo hanging from it’s shoulder (10:37). The matador pricks it with another (10:40). A card for ANSCO film, indicating a new roll of film is starting (10:43). A picador on a grey horse taunts the bull (10:51). The matador’s intricate outfit is captured in a close shot here (11:14). They dance close (11:35) with a green cape. A ground view captures multiple matadors in the ring (13:02). The final Estocada is performed as a man stabs the bull from atop the neck area (13:08) putting the animal down. Peruvian families play along the sandy shoreline (14:13). Luxury homes surround a courtyard (14:38). Peruvians mill through an open air Quechua market (15:04) with heavy sacks of goods atop their backs. A ground view captures the splashes of colors in the attire against the white stucco buildings (16:32). Women sit on the ground with large sacks for goods (17:06) as small vendors rim the market (17:12). Thick Peruvian blankets sit in stacks, waiting to be sold (17:15). Another beautiful ground view shot captures the long skirts and straw hats worn by the people (17:28). A line of Quechua women work with bright colorful yarn on the sandy ground (18:41) as the film concludes. Motion picture films don't last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. For almost two decades, we've worked to collect, scan and preserve the world as it was captured on 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies -- including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have endangered films you'd like to have scanned, or wish to donate celluloid to Periscope Film so that we can share them with the world, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via the weblink below. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit
