"The first popular Surrealist"

DAVID LYNCH (1946) American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic "Lynchian" stylem characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound design. The surreal, and in many cases, violent, elements contained within his films have been known to "disturb, offend or mystify" audiences. He studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, where he first made the transition to producing short films. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he produced his first motion picture, the surrealist horror Eraserhead (1977). After Eraserhead became a cult classic on the midnight movie circuit, Lynch was employed to direct The Elephant Man (1980), from which he gained mainstream success. Then being employed by the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, he proceeded to make two films: the science-fiction epic Dune (1984), which proved to be a critical and commercial failure, and then a neo-noir crime film, Blue Velvet (1986), which was critically acclaimed. Besides "traditional filming, Lynch also embraced the internet as a medium, producing several web-based shows, such as the animation Dumbland (2002) and the surreal sitcom Rabbits (2002). Over his career, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director and a nomination for best screenplay. Lynch has twice won France's César Award for Best Foreign Film, as well as the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 2006. The French government awarded him the Legion of Honor, the country's top civilian honor, as a Chevalier in 2002 and then an Officier in 2007.

Suggested FILMS by DAVID LYNCH:

Eraserhead (1977); The Elephant Man (1980); Blue Velvet (1986); Dune; Twin Peaks (1990–1991); Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992); Wild at Heart (1990); The Straight Story (1999); Lost Highway (1997), Mulholland Drive (2001), Inland Empire (2006); Dumbland (2002); Rabbits (2002).

• GOLDEN LION for Best Film to "Still Life (Sanxia haoren)" by Jia Zhangke (China)
• SILVER LION for Best Director to Alain Resnais, for Cuori
• SPECIAL JURY PRIZE to Daratt - La stagione del perdono: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
• COPPA VOLPI for Best Actor to Ben Affleck in "Hollywoodland" by Allen Coulter (USA)
• COPPA VOLPI for Best Actress: Helen Mirren in "The Queen" by Stephen Frears (UK)
• MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD for Best New Young Actor or Actress to Isild Le Besco for "L'intouchable"
• Luigi De Laurentiis Award: Khadak by Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth

2006 Venice Film Festival Films in Competition

• Heya fawda (feature film): Jean Bréhat (producer), Rachid Bouchareb (producer), Youssef Chahine (director) (3B Productions (production company))
• Espiazione: Joe Wright
• Il treno per il Darjeeling: Wes Anderson
• Sleuth - Gli insospettabili: Kenneth Branagh
• Redacted: Brian De Palma
• L'assassinio di Jesse James per mano del codardo Robert Ford: Andrew Dominik
• Nessuna qualità agli eroi: Paolo Franchi
• Michael Clayton: Tony Gilroy
• Nightwatching: Peter Greenaway
• En la ciudad de Sylvia: José Luis Guerín
• Nella valle di Elah: Paul Haggis
• Io non sono qui: Todd Haynes
• Tai yang zhao chang sheng qi: Wen Jiang
• Help Me Eros: Kang-sheng Lee
• Cous Cous: Abdellatif Kechiche
• In questo mondo libero: Ken Loach
• L'ora di punta: Vincenzo Marra
• Sukiyaki Western Django: Takashi Miike
• 12: Nikita Mikhalkov
• Il dolce e l'amaro: Andrea Porporati
• San taam: Johnnie To, Ka-Fai Wai
• Gli amori di Astrea e Celadon: Eric Rohmer