David Cronenberg is the director of "A Dangerous Method," starring Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender. Cronenberg's next film is "Cosmopolis," starring Robert Pattinson, Paul Giamatti, Juliette Binoche, Samantha Morton and Sarah Gadon.
David Cronenberg's body of work includes the following films as screenwriter and director: "Shivers," "Rabid," "Fast Company," "The Brood," "Scanners," "Videodrome," "The Fly," "Dead Ringers," "Naked Lunch," "Crash" and "eXistenZ." The films
The Toronto native's films have won him awards and recognition worldwide. In June 2001, he received an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from the University of Toronto, and in 1990 France bestowed upon him the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters, and then in 1997 the Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters. In 2005, he was named a GQ Man of the Year; received the Sonny Bono Visionary Award at the Palm Springs Film Festival; was given the Billy Wilder Award by the National Board of Review; and was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Stockholm Film Festival. In July 2006, he guest-curated the exhibition "Andy Warhol/Supernova: Stars, Deaths and Disasters, 1962-1964" for the Art Gallery of Toronto.
Retrospectives of Cronenberg's work have been held in Japan, the U.S., the U.K., France, Brazil, Italy, Portugal, and Canada. Books on Cronenberg and his films include "The Shape of Rage – The Films of David Cronenberg," "The Artist as Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg," "Cronenberg on Cronenberg" and a collection of interviews published by Cahiers du Cinema.
Cronenberg studied at the University of Toronto, where he became interested in film and made two 16mm shorts, "Transfer" and "From the Drain." His first films in 35mm were "Stereo" and "Crimes of the Future," both shot in the late 1960s. In those works, he established and explored some of the themes and concerns that would characterize and define much of his later work — including violence and sexuality, reality and altered reality, and social satire and biological horror.
Cronenberg's first commercial feature was 1975's "Shivers" (a.k.a. "They Came from Within" or "The Parasite Murders"), which became one of the fastest-recouping movies in the history of Canadian film. Within a decade, he was making more ambitious films, such as "Videodrome" and "The Dead Zone," for major studios. The latter won three out of the five prizes at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival as well as seven Edgar Allan Poe Award nominations.
His next films were "The Fly," a remake of the 1958 horror classic, which won the Academy Award for Best Makeup; and "Dead Ringers," starring Jeremy Irons, which earned Cronenberg the Best Director award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Cronenberg's "Naked Lunch," adapted and reconceived from William S. Burroughs's novel and works, brought him the National Society of Film Critics award for Best Director, as well as that group and the New York Film Critics Circle's citations for Best Screenplay. The film also won eight Genie Awards (Canada's equivalent of the Academy Award), including Best Picture and Best Director.
"Crash" brought him a Special Jury Prize at the 1996 Cannes International Film Festival, in addition to multiple Genie Awards; "eXistenZ" won the Silver Bear Award at the 1999 Berlin International Film Festival; and "A History of Violence," starring his "Eastern Promises" leading man Viggo Mortensen, received a host of accolades, including Best Director and Best Film on the Village Voice Film Critics Poll as well as two Academy Award nominations.
Amongst his recent short films are "Camera" and "At the Suicide of the Last Jew in the World in the Last Cinema in the World." The latter was made for the Chacun son cinema collection of films commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Cannes International Film Festival. Cronenberg starred in the latter short, but has also acted in a number of films for other directors as a way to reconnect with being part of a film shoot after the isolation of writing screenplays. His films as actor include Gus Van Sant's "To Die For," Clive Barker's "Nightbreed" and Don McKellar's "Last Night."
In 2008, Cronenberg directed a new opera based on his film "The Fly" at Paris's Théâtre du Châtelet and the Los Angeles Opera. Howard Shore composed the music and David Henry Hwang wrote the libretto.
David Cronenberg's body of work includes the following films as screenwriter and director: "Shivers," "Rabid," "Fast Company," "The Brood," "Scanners," "Videodrome," "The Fly," "Dead Ringers," "Naked Lunch," "Crash" and "eXistenZ." The films
David Cronenberg in a promotional shot for "A History of Violence"
David Cronenberg in a promotional shot for "A History of Violence" - © New Line Cinema
David Cronenberg the set of A Dangerous Method David Cronenberg the set of Eastern Promises David Cronenberg the set of Eastern Promises David Cronenberg the set of A History of Violence Direcor David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen the set of A Dangerous Method David Cronenberg Pictures
he has directed from screenplays by other writers are "The Dead Zone," "M. Butterfly," "Spider," "A History of Violence," which he also produced, and "Eastern Promises."The Toronto native's films have won him awards and recognition worldwide. In June 2001, he received an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from the University of Toronto, and in 1990 France bestowed upon him the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters, and then in 1997 the Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters. In 2005, he was named a GQ Man of the Year; received the Sonny Bono Visionary Award at the Palm Springs Film Festival; was given the Billy Wilder Award by the National Board of Review; and was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Stockholm Film Festival. In July 2006, he guest-curated the exhibition "Andy Warhol/Supernova: Stars, Deaths and Disasters, 1962-1964" for the Art Gallery of Toronto.
Retrospectives of Cronenberg's work have been held in Japan, the U.S., the U.K., France, Brazil, Italy, Portugal, and Canada. Books on Cronenberg and his films include "The Shape of Rage – The Films of David Cronenberg," "The Artist as Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg," "Cronenberg on Cronenberg" and a collection of interviews published by Cahiers du Cinema.
Cronenberg studied at the University of Toronto, where he became interested in film and made two 16mm shorts, "Transfer" and "From the Drain." His first films in 35mm were "Stereo" and "Crimes of the Future," both shot in the late 1960s. In those works, he established and explored some of the themes and concerns that would characterize and define much of his later work — including violence and sexuality, reality and altered reality, and social satire and biological horror.
Cronenberg's first commercial feature was 1975's "Shivers" (a.k.a. "They Came from Within" or "The Parasite Murders"), which became one of the fastest-recouping movies in the history of Canadian film. Within a decade, he was making more ambitious films, such as "Videodrome" and "The Dead Zone," for major studios. The latter won three out of the five prizes at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival as well as seven Edgar Allan Poe Award nominations.
His next films were "The Fly," a remake of the 1958 horror classic, which won the Academy Award for Best Makeup; and "Dead Ringers," starring Jeremy Irons, which earned Cronenberg the Best Director award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Cronenberg's "Naked Lunch," adapted and reconceived from William S. Burroughs's novel and works, brought him the National Society of Film Critics award for Best Director, as well as that group and the New York Film Critics Circle's citations for Best Screenplay. The film also won eight Genie Awards (Canada's equivalent of the Academy Award), including Best Picture and Best Director.
"Crash" brought him a Special Jury Prize at the 1996 Cannes International Film Festival, in addition to multiple Genie Awards; "eXistenZ" won the Silver Bear Award at the 1999 Berlin International Film Festival; and "A History of Violence," starring his "Eastern Promises" leading man Viggo Mortensen, received a host of accolades, including Best Director and Best Film on the Village Voice Film Critics Poll as well as two Academy Award nominations.
Amongst his recent short films are "Camera" and "At the Suicide of the Last Jew in the World in the Last Cinema in the World." The latter was made for the Chacun son cinema collection of films commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Cannes International Film Festival. Cronenberg starred in the latter short, but has also acted in a number of films for other directors as a way to reconnect with being part of a film shoot after the isolation of writing screenplays. His films as actor include Gus Van Sant's "To Die For," Clive Barker's "Nightbreed" and Don McKellar's "Last Night."
In 2008, Cronenberg directed a new opera based on his film "The Fly" at Paris's Théâtre du Châtelet and the Los Angeles Opera. Howard Shore composed the music and David Henry Hwang wrote the libretto.
David Cronenberg the set of A Dangerous Method David Cronenberg the set of Eastern Promises David Cronenberg the set of Eastern Promises David Cronenberg the set of A History of Violence Direcor David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen the set of A Dangerous Method David Cronenberg Pictures
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