The Real Story Behind the Movie The Lost City of Z

The 2016 film The Lost City of Z, directed by James Gray, intricately portrays the compelling true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett’s relentless search for an ancient civilization hidden deep within the Amazon rainforest. Based on David Grann's 2009 bestselling book, the film dramatizes Fawcett’s early 20th-century expeditions and his mysterious disappearance. Although The Lost City of Z did not achieve commercial success, grossing approximately $19.3 million worldwide on a $30 million budget, it garnered critical acclaim for its storytelling,

performances, and cinematography. Over time, the film developed a devoted following, particularly among enthusiasts of historical adventure cinema.

Theatrical release poster of the movie The Lost City of Z

While The Lost City of Z remains faithful to the core of Fawcett’s journey, it takes certain creative liberties for dramatic effect.

Certain events, such as Fawcett's interactions with hostile tribes and his experiences in World War I, are amplified for cinematic purposes. For instance, there is no historical evidence to suggest Fawcett was ever captured by a tribe during his explorations.

The book cover of The Lost City of Z A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

The search for lost cities in the Amazon attracted explorers long before Fawcett.

In February 1541, Gonzalo Pizarro, the brother of the renowned conquistador Francisco Pizarro and governor of Quito at the time, led an expedition from Quito to the east in search of the fabled kingdom of a golden king. Pizarro's journey into the heart of South America was driven by the hope of discovering El Dorado, the legendary city of immense wealth. However, despite failing to find any such city, the expedition's accounts further fueled the enduring myth of El Dorado.

Over time, numerous expeditions—often driven by a mix of ambition, greed, and curiosity—were launched in search of this fabled city, but none yielded definitive proof of its existence. It should be noted that although both El Dorado and the myth of Lost City Z involve legendary hidden civilizations in the Americas, they are not the same.

The last significant attempt to locate such a civilization was led by Percy Fawcett. Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett was a British geographer, archaeologist, and explorer born in 1867. He was a member of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and made multiple expeditions to South America in the early 1900s, primarily mapping uncharted regions of the Amazon. Fawcett was highly respected for his survival skills and knowledge of indigenous cultures.

Page 2 of Manuscript 512

Between 1906 and 1924, Fawcett embarked on seven expeditions across the Amazon Basin, mapping uncharted territories for the Royal Geographical Society and searching for what he believed to be evidence of an advanced, lost culture. His theories were influenced by archaeological discoveries, Indigenous reports, and historical texts, including the mysterious 18th-century Manuscript 512, which described the ruins of an ancient stone city deep in the Brazilian jungle.

Manuscript 512, housed in the Brazilian National Library in Rio de Janeiro, is an unsigned document written in 1753 by a Portuguese bandeirante (explorer) who claimed to have discovered ruins of an ancient stone city deep in the Brazilian jungle. The manuscript describes a city with wide streets, multi-story stone buildings, and inscriptions resembling Greek or ancient European scripts—features highly unusual for known pre-Columbian civilizations of the region. The document also mentions silver-rich mines nearby. However, no definitive evidence of this city has ever been found, and its location remains a mystery, contributing to speculation about lost civilizations in the Amazon. Fawcett, however, believed in the existence of an advanced, lost civilization in the Amazon, which he called “Z.”

Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, 1911

In 1925, Fawcett set off on his final expedition with his son Jack and Jack’s friend Raleigh Rimell. Their goal was to locate "Z" in the uncharted jungles of Brazil. However, after sending a final letter from a place called Dead Horse Camp, the trio vanished without a trace. Despite numerous search efforts over the decades, no confirmed evidence of their fate has ever been found.

A still from the movie "The Lost City of Z"

The Mystery Lives On

In 1952, anthropologist Orlando Villas-Bôas claimed to have discovered the remains of Percy Fawcett and alleged that the Kalapalo people had confessed to killing him. Villas-Bôas, a key advocate for Indigenous rights in Brazil and a driving force behind the establishment of Xingu National Park, detailed this account in his report. According to him, Kalapalo chief Sarari recounted that Fawcett and his companions met their fate after refusing to share a duck he had shot—an unforgivable transgression in the communal culture of the indigenous people—and exacerbated the situation by slapping a child.

According to Villas-Bôas, the Kalapalo had set an ambush at the Green Lagoon and clubbed the white men to death. Villas-Bôas also reported finding human bones and personal items, including a knife, buttons, and small metal objects, in the area where the Kalapalo had indicated the killings took place. These remains were sent to the Royal Anthropological Institute in London for analysis. The examination concluded that the bones did not match Fawcett's dental records and appeared to belong to a man of different physical stature. The Kalapalo tribe, however, has disputed Villas-Bôas's account. In a 2005 interview, Kalapalo elder Vajavi stated that the tribe had not killed Fawcett and that the bones found by Villas-Bôas were those of his grandfather, Mugikia. Vajavi expressed sadness over the accusations and the portrayal of his people as murderers.

These conflicting narratives highlight the complexities of interpreting events that occurred in remote and culturally distinct regions, especially when relying on second-hand accounts and without definitive physical evidence.

To this day, Fawcett’s disappearance remains one of history’s greatest unsolved mysteries. Some believe he was killed by indigenous tribes, while others suggest he perished due to starvation or disease. A few unverified reports even claim he chose to stay in the jungle and live among native peoples.

While The Lost City of Z may not tell the full, complex truth, it succeeds in reviving interest in one of history’s most intriguing explorers. Whether Fawcett truly found his lost city or not, his legacy endures as a symbol of human curiosity and the endless mysteries of the Amazon.