Alexandro Jodorowsky (born February 7, 1929, in Tocopilla, Chile to Ashkenazi Jewish parents) is an actor, director, producer, composer, mime, and comic book writer. He is particularly known for having directed a handful of esoteric, surreal and shocking films, as well as a writer of comic books. He is also a New Age spiritualist, and one of the world's leading researchers of the Tarot.

Artistic career

In 1962 he created the Panic Movement , together with Roland Topor and Fernando Arrabal. He has also worked with famous artists such as Marcel Marceau, Maurice Chevalier, H.R. Giger, Dan O'Bannon, Jean Giraud (Mœbius). John Lennon was a fan of Jodorowsky's work, and had a hand in taking his films to venues in the U.S.

He is the writer of several science fiction comic book series, all set in the same universe: The caste of the Metabarons, Technopriests , Incal, Megalex . Many ideas and concepts devised by Jodorowsky from his planned adaptation of Dune (which was only loosely based upon Frank Herbert's original novel) later turned up in the Metabarons comic books. (which also contain many references to Dune in general) Comics by Jodorowsky outside the genre of science fiction include Bouncer, Son Of The Gun and The Crowned Heart . He particularly collaborates with Mœbius and Humanoids Publishing.

In 2000 he won the Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Underground Film Festival . He is currently working on a new graphic novel for the U.S. market.

Film-making career

His films El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973) are regarded as cult classics. Neither film is currently available on DVD in the United States because of disputes over ownership with Allen Klein, though bootleg copies are occasionally circulated and a DVD of El Topo is available in Italy. His first feature length film, Fando y Lis , is available on DVD in the US and is infamous for inciting a full scale riot at its premiere in the Acapulco Film Festival.

Jodorowsky began working in 1975 on an adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune. The project was intended to involve Orson Welles, Salvador Dalí, Pink Floyd, H.R. Giger and Jean Giraud (Mœbius). Ultimately, its funding evaporated, but Jodorowsky claimed it was sabotaged by the major studios in Hollywood because it was too French (a strange claim considering that Jodorowsky, while a a naturalized citizen of France, has never identified with any particular country or culture). Many close to the project claim that the set designs later turned up in Star Wars. Several of the people working on Jodorowsky's version of Dune later worked on Alien with elements similar to that of the failed movie. Of course, in the early 1980s, David Lynch made his version of Dune.

A sequel to El Topo called The Sons of El Topo was planned, with Alfonso Arau (who appeared in the original film) as the producer and starring Marilyn Manson and Johnny Depp, but Jodorowsky could not find investors for the project.

Jodorowsky once said, "Most directors make films with their eyes. I make films with my testicles." He made almost all his movies in Mexico.

List of movies

• (1957) Les Têtes interverties
• (1967) Fando y Lis
• (1970) El Topo
• (1973) The Holy Mountain (La Montaña Sagrada)
• (1980) Tusk
• (1989) Santa sangre
• (1990) The Rainbow Thief
• (2004) Los Hijos del Topo (pre-production)
• (2006) Tryptych (announced)