Naked Amazon (film)
"Naked Amazon" is a film directed by Zygmunt Sulistrowski, filmed along a remote stretch of the upper Amazon River in Brazil's Mato Grosso state. The documentary showcases the natural environment and wildlife, including jaguars and boa constrictors, while also featuring the Camayura Indians engaging in traditional activities while in their natural state of nudity. Released in the United States in 1957, the film sparked controversy when the Maryland state board of censors mandated the removal of all scenes depicting nudity, arguing they could incite inappropriate sexual thoughts among viewers. However, subsequent legal challenges led to a ruling by both a Baltimore city court and a state appeals court, which found the censors' actions unjustified and emphasized that nudity in this context did not equate to obscenity. The courts concluded that the film could not be deemed lewd, notably arguing that only those with a "prurient imagination" would misinterpret its content. "Naked Amazon" ultimately represents a significant moment in the discussion of censorship, artistic expression, and the depiction of indigenous cultures in cinema.
Naked Amazon (film)
Type of work: Film
Released: 1954
Director: Zygmunt Sulistrowski
Subject matter: Documentary about life in a Brazilian rain forest that included scenes of naked Camayura Indians
Significance: Efforts to censor this film raised the issue of whether nudity could be labeled obscene without regard to its context
Naked Amazon was filmed along a remote stretch of the upper Amazon River in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. A party of explorers led by director Zygmunt Sulistrowski entered the area to film the exotic environment and its inhabitants. Along with jaguars, boa constrictors, and other forest denizens, the resulting film contained scenes of Camayura Indians hunting and engaging in other activities in their normal state of nudity. After the film was released in the United States in 1957 the Maryland state board of censors demanded that all scenes showing people naked below the waist be excised. The board argued that such scenes were obscene and would stimulate sexual desires among “irresponsible” people. The film’s distributors sued in court.
Both a Baltimore city court and a state appeals court disagreed with the censors. In Maryland State Board of Motion Pictures Censors v. Times Film Corporation (1957), the appellate court found that only a person with a “prurient imagination” could derive any “unchaste or lustful ideas” from the film. The court enjoined the board to apply community standards, and not to cater to the young, immature, ignorant, or sensually inclined. Seven years later, in Fanfare Films, Inc. v. Motion Picture Board, the Maryland Court of Appeals again overruled the censorship board, finding that “nudity is not necessarily obscene or lewd.”