Jodorowsky

Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky was born on 17 February 1929 in Chile, later becoming a naturalized French citizen. He is best known as an avant-garde filmmaker and comic book writer, revered for his violently surreal visual style and fusion of mysticism with religious provocation. After dropping out of college, Jodorowsky worked as a clown and founded his own mime troupe in 1947 before moving to Paris in the early 1950s to study under Étienne Decroux. He co-founded the Panic Movement, a surrealist performance collective, and created his first comic strip, *Anibal 5*, in 1966. His directorial debut, *Fando y Lis* (1967), caused a scandal in Mexico and was banned. Jodorowsky gained international cult status with the acid western *El Topo* (1970), considered the first midnight movie, and *The Holy Mountain* (1973), both championed by John Lennon. As a comic book writer, he is most noted for the science fiction series *The Incal* (1980s), as well as *The Technopriests* and *Metabarons*. His later work includes the autobiographical films *The Dance of Reality* (2013) and *Endless Poetry* (2016). Jodorowsky also developed a spiritual system called "psychomagic," blending alchemy and tarot. He has been venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts for his enduring influence.