Walter Salles Success Story
Walter Moreira Salles Junior is a celebrated film director all across the world. He has made more than twenty excellent movies and some of the most acclaimed of these are the Central Station and the The Motorcycle Diaries. Central Station had been nominated in the Academy Awards of 1998 while The Motorcycle Diaries has won the hearts of critics and regular film lovers with the brilliant portrayal of the life of Che Guevera.
The latest production of the gifted director is a documentary on the Chinese screenwriter and director Jia Zgang Ke, who is an iconic figure in the movement of Chinese cinema. The documentary is titled as "Sixth Generation".
Early Life
Walter Salles Moreira Salles Junior is a well-known filmmaker from Brazil. He was born on April 12, 1956 in a family that is known all across the country for its banking services. He is the son of Late Walter Moreira Salles who had been a former United States ambassador and also the founder of the Unibanco.
Unibanco came into a mergence with Itau in the year 2008 and the commercial bank ranked second largest in the country at that time. The Itau-Unibanco is however, the largest commercial bank in present time in Latin America. His family is known to own a major controlling stake in this bank.
Salle's Directorial Genius
A very interesting movie made by Salles is the Terra Estrangeira or The Foreign Land which was released in 1995 in Brazil. Although, it had been a minor hit in the box-office at that time, it was quite acclaimed by the critics. The movie made it to more than forty festivals all over the world. Central Station or Central do Brasil was released in 1998 which again earned him an international acclaim.
Abril Despedacado or Behind the Sun was released in 2001 by the prolific director. The movie went ahead to be nominated in the Golden Globes' Best Foreign Film section. The producer of Central Station and Behind the Sun was Arthur Cohn who made worldwide distributions of both movies.
Walter Salles With Kristen Stewart
The talent of Salles was acknowledged once again when The Guardian included his name in the Forty Best Directors of the world. The biggest success of Salles is The Motorcycle Diaries or the Diaros de Motorcicleta in 2004 which was about the life of the legendary revolutionary Earnesto Guevara.
It was even more commendable because it had been his first venture in cinema which was other than his native language. The film did not take very long to become one of the biggest box office hits in the history of European and Latin American cinema.
Salles in Hollywood
Salles has had his share of contribution in Hollywood as well. In 2005 he directed yet another blockbuster called Dark water which was an adaptation of the Japanese movie by the same name that was released in 2002.
Another notable project of Salles was Paris, je t'aime or Paris, I love you where he wrote and co-directed a part with Daniela Thomas. Over the years, Salles had gifted world cinema with one great movie after another such as the On the Road in 2012, which went on to be nominated at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.
Awards
- 2008
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Sao Paulo Association of Art Critics For Linha de Passe As the Best Film
- 2005
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BAFTA As Best Film Not in the English Language For The Motorcycle Diaries
- 2004
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Francois Chalais Prize At Cannes Film Festival For The Motorcycle Diaries
- 2002
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House of the Americas, Little Golden Lion
- 2000
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BAFTA For Central Station,Best Film Not in the English Language
- 1999
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Golden Globe, Sao Paulo Association of Art Critics
- 1998
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Golden Bear, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
