Zygmunt Sulistrowski
born: 1922Ecologist and film maker
As ecologist and film maker, he has devoted 30 years to the preservation of the Amazon region at his 27,000-acre Great Ecological Reserve called The Forest of Life.
Born and raised in Poland, he fought in the underground army (AK) and took part in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising during World War II. In 1946 he moved to Paris, where he graduated from the French Film Academy as a director-producer.
He worked on several British productions and eventually came to California, where he established the International Film Enterprises in Hollywood. In 1951 Sulistrowski visited Rio de Janeiro and fell in love with Brazil.
Fascinated by the native Indians' way of life and the beauty of the jungle, he made Naked Amazon (1954), which was nominated for the Grand Prize at the Cannes International Film Festival.
Throughout the years many of his films were presented at festivals in Cannes, Berlin and in Brazil. Most tell stories about love, adventure and suspense in remote locations in South America, Africa, Asia and Australia.
In 1988 Sulistrowski moved his office from Hollywood to Manaus in north-west Brazil and founded The Research and Preservation Center of Amazonian Ecology. In 1991 he built the Green Land Lodge hotel, where he promotes ecotourism. He also encourages research of the area's biological and genetic diversity.
From: Good News 2005 - 2006. A publication of the American Institute of Polish Culture of Miami, Florida.