Walter Salles Biography

Date of Birth: April 12, 1956

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Walter Salles' 1995 feature, Foreign Land, won eight international awards including Brazil's Best Film of the Year. His next film, Central Station, was selected for the Sundance-NHK Cinema 100 Award for its screenplay. Central Station went on to receive the Golden Bear for Best Film and Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival that same year, the Golden Globe and the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1999 and two Academy Award nominations.

His feature, Behind the Sun (2002), was nominated for both the BAFTA Award and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.

In addition to feature film directing, Salles also acts as producer or co-producer of young filmmakers' features in Brazil. He co-produced City of God, directed by Fernando Meirelles and co-directed by Katia Lund, and produced Karim Ainouz's Madame Sata. He is now producing Cidade Baixa, the first film by his former Assistant Director Sergio Machado, as well as Andrucha Waddington's film, The House of Sand.

In 2003, he was voted one of the 40 Best Directors in the World by Britain's The Guardian newspaper.

Filmography:

On the Road (2012)
Paris, je t'aime (2005)
Dark Water (2005)
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
Armas E Paz (2002)
Castanha e Caju Contra o Encouraçado Titanic (2002)
Behind the Sun (2002)
O Primeiro Dia (1998)
Central Station (1998)
Foreign Land (1996)
Socorro Nobre (1995)
A Grande Arte (1991)