Walter Salles facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Walter Salles
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Salles at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024
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| Born |
Walter Moreira Salles Júnior
12 April 1956 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Filmmaker, editor |
| Spouse(s) |
Maria Klabin
(m. 2004) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) |
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| Relatives | João Moreira Salles (brother) Pedro Moreira Salles (brother) |
Walter Moreira Salles Júnior ( born 12 April 1956) is a Brazilian filmmaker. A major figure of the Resumption Cinema in Brazil, Salles is widely regarded as one of the greatest Brazilian filmmakers of all time. Among his accolades, he has won three Cannes Film Festival prizes, three Venice Film Festival prizes, two British Academy Film Awards, a Golden Bear and a Golden Globe; he also accepted an Academy Award for Best International Feature Film on behalf of Brazil, this being the first ever Brazilian nominee at the Academy Awards history to win an statuette in any category.
He first became internationally known for his film Central Station (1998), which got two Academy Awards nominations, for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actress for Fernanda Montenegro, winning a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film as well as the Golden Bear at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival. His subsequent works include Behind the Sun (2001), The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), Dark Water (2005) and On the Road (2012). At the 97th Academy Awards, his critically acclaimed film I'm Still Here (2024) received a rare double nomination for Best Picture and Best International Feature; it won the latter, becoming the first Brazilian film to win an Academy Award in any category.
Heir to Itaú Unibanco, with a fortune valued at US$4.5 billion, Salles is the third richest filmmaker in the world.
Contents
Early life
Salles was born on 12 April 1956, in Rio de Janeiro. Walter Salles resided in both France and the United States throughout his youth, following his diplomat father, Walter Moreira Salles. At the age of 15, Salles returned to Brazil under the dictatorship of Emílio Garrastazu Médici.
Salles attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. He originally gained experience in film through non-fiction documentaries. He worked on documentaries for ten years before switching to fictional films.
Career
Salles's first notable film was Terra 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 released Central Station to widespread international acclaim and two Academy Awards nominations, for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Fernanda Montenegro) and Best Foreign Language Film. Salles won a Golden 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 author Ismail Kadare and starring Rodrigo Santoro, was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Golden Globes.
In 2003, Salles was voted one of the 40 Best Directors in the World by The Guardian. His biggest international success has been Diarios de Motocicleta ("The Motorcycle Diaries"), a 2004 film about the life of young Ernesto 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 native Portuguese (Spanish, in this case) and quickly became a box-office hit in Latin America and Europe. He won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and François Chalais Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2005, Salles released his first Hollywood film, Dark Water, an adaptation of the 2002 Japanese film of the same name. He also helped to produce the Argentine picture Hermanas, which was a major success.
In 2006, Salles wrote and directed a segment in the French film Paris, je t'aime (French for "Paris, I love you") with Daniela Thomas. The film is a collection of 18 shorter segments made by different 21 directors and set in different arrondissements of Paris. Salles' segment called Loin du 16e (literally: Far from the 16th) and took place in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. In 2007, Salles took part in a similar project called To Each His Own Cinema (French: Chacun son cinéma) in the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival. He made a three-minute segment called A 8.944 km de Cannes (English: 5,557 miles from Cannes). In 2008, Salles wrote and directed the film Linha de Passe also with Daniela Thomas. It is a story about four brothers from a poor family who need to fight to follow their dreams. He was nominated for the Golden Palm and Sandra Corveloni won the Best Actress award for her role in this film in Cannes Film Festival in 2008.
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In 2012, Salles released José Rivera's screenplay adaptation of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, with Francis Ford Coppola producing. The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. In 2024, twelve years after his last feature film, Salles released I'm Still Here ("Ainda Estou Aqui"), based on the book of the same name by Marcelo Rubens Paiva. The film was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 81st Venice International Film Festival and Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, where it won the Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama category for Fernanda Torres, becoming the first Brazilian actress to win the Golden Globe for acting.
Fortune
As of January 5, 2025, he has an estimated net worth of $4.2 billion. He is the third richest filmmaker in the world, behind Steven Spielberg ($5.3 billion) and George Lucas ($5.2 billion).
Filmography
Feature films
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | A Grande Arte | Yes | No | No | |
| 1995 | Life Somewhere Else | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
| Foreign Land | Yes | Yes | No | Co-directed with Daniela Thomas | |
| 1998 | Central Station | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Midnight | Yes | Yes | No | Co-directed with Daniela 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 | No | Yes | Co-directed with Daniela Thomas |
| 2010 | In Search of the World | Yes | No | No | Short essay |
| 2012 | On the Road | Yes | No | Uncredited | |
| 2023 | The Movie Teller | No | Yes | No | |
| 2024 | Noah's Ark | No | No | Yes | |
| 2024 | I'm Still Here | Yes | No | No | |
Short film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Where Has the Time Gone? | Yes | No | No | Segment: "When the Earth Trembles" |
Television
| 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 |
Documentaries
| Year | Title | Subject | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Krajcberg: O Poeta Dos Vestígios | Frans Krajcberg | |
| 1988 | Marisa Monte | Marisa Monte | Co-directed with Nelson Motta |
| 1989 | Chico, ou O País Da Delicadeza Perdida | Chico Buarque | Co-directed with Nelson Motta |
| 1995 | Antônio Carlos Jobim: An All-Star Tribute | Antônio Carlos Jobim | |
| 1999 | Somos Todos Filhos Da Terra | Adão Dãxalebaradã | Co-directed with Kátia Lund, João Moreira Salles and Daniela Thomas |
| 2002 | Castanha E Caju Contra O Encouraçado Titanic | Co-directed with Daniela Thomas and George Moura. | |
| 2013 | Venice 70: Future Reloaded  |
Venice Film Festival | Segment director |
| 2016 | Jia Zhang-ke by Walter Salles | Jia Zhangke |
Awards and nominations
In July 2022 Salles was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of letters by the University of Reading.
See also
In Spanish: Walter Salles para niños
