Alejandro Jodorowsky

Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky, a Chilean-French avant-garde filmmaker, is renowned for his work that embraces mysticism, religious provocation, and violently surreal images. He made his mark in the 1970s with films like El Topo and The Holy Mountain, which became cult cinema favorites. Jodorowsky was born to Jewish-Ukrainian parents in Chile but had an unhappy and alienated childhood. He explored theatre and mime during his early years, forming his own theatre troupe, Teatro Mimico, in 1947. He then moved to Paris in the early 1950s, where he studied under the mime Étienne Decroux, and began his film career with Les têtes interverties in 1957. He achieved international recognition with his first feature film, the surrealist Fando y Lis in 1967. His subsequent film El Topo (1970) became a hit in the United States, earning praise from John Lennon. In addition to filmmaking, Jodorowsky is a noted comic book writer, having penned The Incal series during the 1980s. He also developed a spiritual system called 'psychomagic' or 'psychoshamanism', influenced by alchemy, the tarot, Zen Buddhism, and shamanism. His current project is The Son of El Topo, which is awaiting financial backing.