Walter Moreira Salles Jr. (born April 12, 1956, Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian filmmaker and film producer of international prominence. He is the son of Walter Moreira Salles, a Brazilian banker and ambassador, and the brother of João Moreira Salles, also a filmmaker.
Salles's first notable film was Terra Estrangeira (English title: Foreign Land), shot in 1995. It was named one of the best films of the year by many critics in Brazil[citation needed] and was selected by over 40 film festivals worldwide. In 1998 he released Central do Brasil (English title: Central Station) to widespread international acclaim and Abril Despedaçado (2001; English title: Behind the Sun) was also well received. Both films were produced by veteran Arthur Cohn and had worldwide distribution.
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 (2004; English title: The Motorcycle Diaries), 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.
In 2005, Salles released his first English-language feature film, which is also 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.
Salles has reportedly signed on to direct José Rivera's screenplay adaptation of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, with Francis Ford Coppola producing. See also: On the Road (2007).
Won 8 international awards, including
55 international awards, incuding:
