An Andalusian Dog
Date: 1929
Region: Europe
Subject: Explicit Sexuality, Violence
Medium: Film Video
Artist: Luis Bunuel
Confronting Bodies: French critics and government censors
Dates of Action: 1929
Location: France
Description of Artwork: Bunuel's film An Andalusian Dog is a mix of violent imagery and sexual frustration, opening with a man on a balcony slitting open a girl's eye.
Incident: An Andalusian Dog was removed from French theaters in 1929 even though it was well recieved. The owners of the Cinema des Ursulines told Bunuel that they feared the French censor's reaction.
Results of Incident: Bunuel was sent to the Spanish embassy in Paris to produce propaganda films. During World War II he worked for the Museum of Modern Art in New York, dubbing anti-Nazi films for distribution in Latin America.
Source: Censorship, A World Encyclopedia, ed. D. Jones
