Walter Salles

Walter Salles is an independent Brazilian filmmaker. He gained international acclaim with his 1998 film, Central Station (Central do Brasil), which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and earned two Academy Award nominations, for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actress for Fernanda Montenegro. The film also won the Golden Globe and the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language. The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de Motocicleta, 2004), which explores the early life of Ernesto Guevara, received two Oscar nominations, winning Best Original Song, and seven BAFTA nominations, winning Best Film Not in the English Language. Salles has also directed documentaries such as Jia Zhang-Ke, a Guy from Fenyang, a film about the Chinese independent film director. His most recent film, I'm Still Here, premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it was awarded the Golden Osella for Best Screenplay. The film went on to win numerous other awards, most notably earning three Academy Award nominations and winning the Oscar for Best International Feature Film. Salles is widely recognised for his ability to blend personal and political narratives, often focusing on themes of identity and social justice, and has received the Robert Bresson Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 2009, and the Marcus Aurelius Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Rome Film Festival in 2014.