Hunting Big Game in Africa 1909

Directed by Otis Turner

Promoted as authentic safari footage, this early Selig production stages a lion hunt in California rather than Africa. Using animals from Selig’s game preserve and employing a Roosevelt look-alike for cutaways, the film presented itself as a record of Theodore Roosevelt’s celebrated expedition. In reality, it was one of the earliest “fake documentaries,” blending staged action and exotic branding to satisfy audience demand for Roosevelt’s big-game exploits.