Walter Salles | |
|---|---|
 Salles at theToronto International Film Festival in 2024 | |
| Born | Walter Moreira Salles Júnior (1956-04-12)12 April 1956 (age 68) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, editor |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Father | Walter Moreira Salles |
| Relatives | João Moreira Salles (brother) Pedro Moreira Salles (brother) |
| Awards | Full list |
Walter Moreira Salles Júnior (/ˈsɑːlɪs/;[1]Brazilian Portuguese:[ˈvawteʁˈsalis]; born 12 April 1956) is a Brazilian filmmaker. A major figure of theResumption Cinema inBrazil, Salles is widely regarded as one of the greatest Brazilian filmmakers of all time.[2][3][4] Hisaccolades include anAcademy Award accepted forBest International Film, threeCannes Film Festival prizes, threeVenice Film Festival prizes, twoBritish Academy Film Awards, aGolden Bear and aGolden Globe.
He first became internationally known for his filmCentral Station (1998), which earned twoAcademy Awards nominations, forBest Foreign Language Film andBest Actress forFernanda Montenegro, winning aGolden Globe and aBAFTA forBest Foreign Language Film as well as theGolden Bear at the48th Berlin International Film Festival. His subsequent works includeBehind the Sun (2001),The Motorcycle Diaries (2004),Dark Water (2005) andOn the Road (2012). At the97th Academy Awards, his critically acclaimed filmI'm Still Here (2024) received a rare double nomination forBest Picture andBest International Feature; it won the latter, becoming the first Brazilian film to win an Academy Award in any category.[5]
Heir toItaú Unibanco, with a fortune valued at US$4.5 billion (R$24.26 billion), Salles is the third richest filmmaker in the world.[6][7]
Salles was born on 12 April 1956, in Rio de Janeiro.[8] Salles resided in both France and the United States throughout his youth, following his diplomat father,Walter Moreira Salles.[9][10] At the age of 15, Salles returned to Brazil under the dictatorship ofEmílio Garrastazu Médici.[11]
Salles attended theUniversity of Southern CaliforniaSchool of Cinematic Arts.[12] He originally gained experience in film through non-fiction documentaries. He worked on documentaries for ten years before switching to fictional films.[13]
Salles's first notable film wasTerra Estrangeira (Foreign Land), released in Brazil in 1995. Locally, it was widely acclaimed by film critics and a minor box-office hit, and it was selected by over 40 film festivals worldwide. In 1998, he releasedCentral Station to widespread international acclaim and twoAcademy Awards nominations, forBest Actress in a Leading Role (Fernanda Montenegro) andBest Foreign Language Film. Salles won aGolden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, becoming the first Brazilian to win a Golden Globe.
In 2001,Abril Despedaçado (Behind the Sun), based on a novel by Albanian authorIsmail Kadare and starringRodrigo Santoro, was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globe.[14] Salles said: "... there was one book that resonated to the point where I couldn't forget it. And that wasBroken April by Ismail Kadare. The book was handed to me by my younger brother, who said: 'If I know you well, this will touch you.' ... What really struck me was the opposition between the atavistic violence described in the book and the possibility for that violence to be overpowered by the discovery of poetry and literature and ultimately by brotherly love."[15] Both films were produced by veteranArthur Cohn, and had worldwide distribution.
In 2003, Salles was voted one of the 40 Best Directors in the World byThe Guardian.[16] His biggest international success has beenDiarios de Motocicleta ("The Motorcycle Diaries"), a 2004 film about the life of youngErnesto Guevara, who later became known as Che Guevara. It was Salles's first foray as director of a film in a language other than his nativePortuguese (Spanish, in this case) and quickly became a box-office hit in Latin America and Europe. He won thePrize of the Ecumenical Jury andFrançois Chalais Prize at the2004 Cannes Film Festival.[17][18]
In 2005, Salles released his firstHollywood film,Dark Water, a remake of the 2002Japanese film of the same name. He also helped to produce the Argentine pictureSisters (Spanish:Hermanas), which was a major success. In 2006, Salles wrote and directed a segment in the French filmParis, je t'aime (French for "Paris, I love you") withDaniela Thomas. The film is a collection of 18 shorter segments made by different 21 directors and set in differentarrondissements of Paris. Salles' segment calledLoin du 16e (literally:Far from the 16th) and took place in the16th arrondissement of Paris. In 2007, Salles took part in a similar project calledTo Each His Own Cinema (French:Chacun son cinéma) in the 60th anniversary of theCannes Film Festival. He made a three-minute segment calledA 8.944 km de Cannes (English:5,557 miles from Cannes).
In 2008, Salles wrote and directed the filmLinha de Passe, also with Thomas.[19] It is a story about four brothers from a poor family who need to fight to follow their dreams. He was nominated for thePalme d'Or andSandra Corveloni won the Best Actress award for her role in this film at2008 Cannes Film Festival. In 2012, Salles releasedJosé Rivera'sscreenplay adaptation ofJack Kerouac'sOn the Road, withFrancis Ford Coppola producing. The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the2012 Cannes Film Festival.[20][21]
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In 2024, twelve years after his last feature film, Salles releasedI'm Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui), based on thebook of the same name byMarcelo Rubens Paiva; the film tackles the arrest and disappearance ofRubens Paiva in 1971, Marcelo's father, during themilitary dictatorship in Brazil.[22][23] The film was nominated for theGolden Lion at the81st Venice International Film Festival andBest Foreign Language Film at the82nd Golden Globe Awards, where it won theBest Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama category forFernanda Torres, becoming the first Brazilian actress to win the Golden Globe for acting.[24][25] ForI’m Still Here, at the97th Academy Awards, Salles accepted theOscar for Best International Feature Film on behalf of Brazil and the film creatives as a whole.
In 2009, Salles signed a petition in support of film directorRoman Polanski, calling for his release after Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.[26]
In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Salles signed an open letter published inLibération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.[27][28][29]
In February 2025, Salles stated during an interview toCNN that his movieI'm Still Here is a product of the Brazilian democracy, after the2022 Brazilian general election and the2023 Brasília attacks, and that he wouldn't have had the opportunity to film during the government ofJair Bolsonaro.[30]
As of January 5, 2025, he has an estimated net worth of $4.2 billion.[31] He is the third richest filmmaker in the world, behindSteven Spielberg ($5.3 billion) andGeorge Lucas ($5.2 billion).[32]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | A Grande Arte | Yes | No | No | ||
| 1995 | Foreign Land | Yes | Yes | No | Co-directed withDaniela Thomas | |
| 1998 | Central Station | Yes | Story | No | ||
| Midnight | Yes | Yes | No | Co-directed withDaniela Thomas | ||
| 2001 | Behind the Sun | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2002 | City of God | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2004 | The Motorcycle Diaries | Yes | No | No | ||
| 2005 | Dark Water | Yes | No | No | ||
| 2006 | Paris, je t'aime | Yes | Yes | No | Segment: "Loin du 16e" | |
| 2007 | To Each His Own Cinema | Yes | No | No | Segment: "5,557 Miles From Cannes" | |
| 2008 | Linha de Passe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-directed withDaniela Thomas | |
| 2012 | On the Road | Yes | No | Uncredited | ||
| 2023 | The Movie Teller | No | Yes | No | ||
| 2024 | Noah's Ark | No | No | Yes | ||
| I'm Still Here | Yes | No | No | |||
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Life Somewhere Else | Yes | Yes | No | Documentary |
| 2010 | In Search of the World | Yes | No | No | Short essay |
| 2017 | Where Has the Time Gone? | Yes | No | No | Segment: "When the Earth Trembles" |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Japão: Uma Viagem No Tempo | Yes | No | 4 episodes |
| 1995 | Un Siécle d'Écrivains | Yes | No | Episode: "Jorge Armando" |
| 2019 | Irmãos Freitas | No | Yes | 8 episodes |
| Year | Title | Subject | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Krajcberg: O Poeta Dos Vestígios | Frans Krajcberg | |
| 1988 | Marisa Monte | Marisa Monte | Co-directed withNelson Motta |
| 1989 | Chico, ou O País Da Delicadeza Perdida | Chico Buarque | |
| 1995 | Antônio Carlos Jobim: An All-Star Tribute | Antônio Carlos Jobim | |
| 1999 | Somos Todos Filhos Da Terra | Adão Dãxalebaradã | Co-directed withKátia Lund,João Moreira Salles andDaniela Thomas |
| 2002 | Castanha E Caju Contra O Encouraçado Titanic | Co-directed withDaniela Thomas and George Moura. | |
| 2013 | Venice 70: Future Reloaded‡ | Venice Film Festival | Segment director |
| 2016 | Jia Zhang-ke by Walter Salles | Jia Zhangke |
In July 2022 Salles was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of letters by theUniversity of Reading.[33]
