Gus Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American film director, photographer, musician, and author.

Van Sant was nominated for a Best Director Academy Award in 1998 for Good Will Hunting, and won Best Director and Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival for his film Elephant. He has written the screenplays for most of his early movies as well as a novel "Pink" ISBN 0385493533. A book of his photography has also been published called "108 Portraits" ISBN 0944092225. Some of the movies he has written and/or directed include an adaptation of Tom Robbins' novel Even Cowgirls get the Blues, which featured a truly one-of-a-kind cast (Keanu Reeves, Roseanne Barr, Uma Thurman, k.d. lang, and cameos by William S Burroughs and a then-unknown Heather Graham, among others) and My Own Private Idaho, also starring Keanu Reeves as well as the late River Phoenix. He has appeared in a cameo on screen in Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and began as a commercial director in the Pacific Northwest. He has released two CDs entitled "Gus van Sant" and "18 Songs About Golf".

Van Sant is openly gay, and many of his movies include gay themes or characters. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.

Director - filmography

• The Time Traveler's Wife (2006) - announced
• Paris, je t'aime (2005) - (segment "4th arrondissement")
• Last Days (2005) - to be released
• Elephant (2003)
• Gerry (2002)
• Finding Forrester (2000)
• Psycho (1998 - a remake)
• Ballad of the Skeletons (1997)
• Good Will Hunting (1997)
• Four Boys in a Volvo (1996)
• To Die For (1995)
• Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993)
• My Own Private Idaho (1991)
• Thanksgiving Prayer (1991)
• Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
• Ken Death Gets Out of Jail (1987)
• My New Friend (1987)
• Five Ways to Kill Yourself (1987)
• Mala Noche (1985)