Alain Guiraudie

French filmmaker Alain Guiraudie mixed surrealism with social commentary, with a particular focus on gay issues, in such critically praised films as "King of Escape" (2009), "Stranger By the Lake" (2013) and "Staying Vertical" (2016). Born into an agricultural family in the Aveyron region of France, he developed an interest in film through a steady diet of comic books, television and genre films. After studying at the University of Montpelier, Guiraudie wrote several novels before directing, writing and appearing in his first screen effort, the short film "Les héros sont immortels" ("The Heroes are Immortal," 1990). In 2001, he earned critical praise for "Sunshine for the Scoundrels," a curious short fantasy about a hairstylist and a shepherd in search of missing animals. The blend of offbeat, dreamlike storyline and nods to social mores would become the earmarks of his subsequent efforts, including the short "The Old Dream that Moves" (2001), about a repairman who discovers that rebuilding a strange factory machine provokes an erotic response from his co-workers. Praised by no less a figure than Jean-Luc Godard when it played at Cannes, the film won the Prix Jean Vigo from the Cinema of France and earned a Cesar for Best Short Film. Guiraurdie released his first feature-length film, "No Rest for the Brave," in 2003; the film, about a teenager who refused to sleep for fear of dying, was soon followed by the science fiction romance "Time Has Come" (2005) and "King of Escape," a freewheeling mix of gay-straight romance and road movie about a gay tractor salesman who falls for a teenaged girl. Despite numerous nominations and citations by various European festivals and critics, Guiraudie's films went unseen in the United States until the release of "Stranger By the Lake," a sexually explicit thriller about a gay man who discovers that his anonymous paramour has committed murders at a lakeside pickup spot. Nominated for three Cesar Awards, "Lake" also won the Un Certain Regard Best Director and Queer Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival, which unofficially served as Guiraudie's introduction to a global audience. In 2016, he returned to Cannes to receive a Palme d'Or nomination for "Staying Vertical," about a filmmaker raising a child from a tryst with a shepherdess while also seeking inspiration for his next project.