Profile of Walter Salles on Famous Like Me

Walter Moreira Salles Jr. (born April 12, 1956, Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian filmmaker of international proeminence.

His first notable film, "Terra Estrangeira" (English title: "Foreign Land"), was shot in 1995, was named Best Film of the Year in Brazil. It proceeded to won 8 international awards (including the Audience Grand Prize at the Rencontres Internationales de Cinéma de Paris and at the Film Festival of Bergamo and Film Festival of Belfort; and was selected by over 40 film festivals.

Two of his next films were produced by Arthur Cohn, one of which ("Central do Brasil", English title: "Central Station") received two nominations for the Oscar award (Best Foreign Film and Best Actress, for Fernanda Montenegro) and won 55 international awards, including the Golden Bear at the 1998 Berlin International Film Festival, the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, the National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Film, and the British Academy Film Award for Best Foreign Film.

The other film produced by Cohn, "Abril Despedaçado" (English title "Behind the Sun") has also been praised by critics and public alike. It was nominated for Best Foreign Film by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the National Board of Review and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts; and won the Audience Award (Leoncino d'Oro) at the 58th Venice International Film Festival.

His most recent film is Diários de Motocicleta (English title: The Motorcycle Diaries), a film about the life of young Ernesto Guevara, who later became known as Che Guevara. It quickly became a top office box in Latin America and Europe, and a bestseller in the USA. The film won the Hollywood World award at the 2004 Hollywood Film Festival was nominated to the European Film Award, and to the Cannes Film Festival. It was also nominated for two 2005 Oscar Award, as Best Original Song and as Best Adapted Script.

In 2003, Salles was voted one of the 40 Best Directors in the World by The Guardian.

Salles has reportedly signed on to direct Russell Banks' screenplay adaptation of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, with Francis Ford Coppola producing. See also: On the Road (2007).

Walter Salles is son of Walter Moreira Salles, a Brazilian banker and ambassador, and is brother of João Moreira Salles, also a filmmaker.

Main filmography

• On the Road (2007)
• Dark Water (Dark Water, 2005)
• Diários de Motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries, 2004)
• Abril Despedaçado (Behind the Sun, 2001)
• O Primeiro Dia (Midnight, 1998)
• Central do Brasil (Central Station, 1998)
• Terra Estrangeira (Foreign Land, 1996)
• Socorro Nobre (Life Somewhere Else, 1995)
• A Grande Arte (Exposure, 1991)

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