Six courageous men of the North in the endless expanses of the South Pacific. In 1947, Norwegian ethnologist Thor Heyerdahl set out to prove his theory that settlers on the South Sea islands had not come from Asia, but from Peru, on simple rafts. Heyerdahl and his companions dared to reconstruct the 8000 kilometre voyage on just such a raft, the “Kon-Tiki”. It took them 101 days. The film of their endeavour won an Oscar in 1952 as Best Documentary. The Evangelischer Film-Beobachter wrote of the German premiere: “Of course, this expedition film cannot be compared with ordinary films. The makers had no professional cameramen, directors or actors. But that is precisely what lends this film its authentic sense of drama, excitement and romance. It is a film we recommend highly to adults and young people of all ages.” Half a century on, that pretty much says it all.