Darren Aronofsky extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky in 2008
Born	February 12, 1969 (1969-02-12) (age 40) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter & producer
Domestic partner(s)	Rachel Weisz (2002-present)

Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Features 2.1 π 2.2 Requiem for a Dream 2.3 The Fountain 2.4 The Wrestler 2.5 Future projects 3 Filmography 4 Personal life 5 References 6 External links 6.1 Websites 6.2 Interviews

Early life

Aronofsky was born in Brooklyn, New York to Abraham and Charlotte Aronofsky, both school teachers. His father taught science and was a dean at Bushwick High School.

He graduated from Edward R. Murrow High School. He was selected to attend Camp Rising Sun, the Louis August Jonas Foundation's international summer scholarship program. He was trained as a research biologist with The School for Field Studies on a ranch in Kenya and Prince William Sound, Alaska. Upon graduating high school, he backpacked around the Middle East and Europe for six months and, in 1987, entered Harvard University where he studied anthropology, live action film and animation. His senior thesis film, Supermarket Sweep, starred his fellow student and friend Sean Gullette. It was a finalist in the 1991 Student Academy Awards. He graduated in 1991 with honors. He received his M.F.A. in directing from AFI Conservatory and was honored with the institute's prestigious Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal.

Features

π

The film is about a mathematical genius, Maximillian Cohen, who narrates much of the movie. Max, a number theorist, theorizes that everything in nature can be understood through numbers, and that if you graph the numbers properly patterns will emerge. He is working on finding patterns within the stock market, using its billions upon billions of variables as his data set with the assistance of his homemade supercomputer, Euclid. It won the Directing Prize at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. It also won the Open Palm at the Gotham Awards. Aronofsky won best first screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Requiem for a Dream

One of Aronofsky's favorite books is Hubert Selby Jr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn.^{citation needed} While editing π, producer Eric Watson asked Aronofsky to read another Selby book, Requiem for a Dream, which Aronofsky had actually started reading years before but never finished. He was moved by the novel and wanted to film an adaptation, quickly beginning work on the script with Selby. Aronofsky delivered a relentless and disturbing movie of hopes and dreams shattered and lives laid waste by various addictions. The film premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and was greeted by a 13 minute standing ovation. It was released in the United States in October, 2000. Ellen Burstyn was nominated for several awards including the Academy Award for best actress for her performance as Harry's widowed and lonely mother. Composer Clint Mansell's score has gone on to be one of the most recognizable scores of the decade.

The Fountain

Aronofsky next commenced writing an original screenplay entitled "The Last Man" -- later changed to "The Fountain" -- to star Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. In 2002, days away from the start of filming, Pitt pulled out due to "creative differences" and the film collapsed. Sets were auctioned off once Warner Bros. Productions shut down filming. Warner Bros. however, decided to simply shelve the project and keep it as an option, so long as Aronofsky could find the proper cast.

In 2005, The Fountain was resurrected with Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. It was made with minimal computer effects, using classic chemical techniques, for creative reasons. The film premiered at the 2006 Venice Film Festival. It won the Sloan prize at the 2006 Hamptons Film Festival.

The Fountain was released in the United States on November 22, 2006. It was released on DVD in the United States and Canada on May 15, 2007.

The Wrestler

Aronofsky directed The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke as professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson. The film tells the story of Robinson's decline, and eventual reentry into the pro wrestling scene. Filming began late January 2008 and wrapped two months later.¹ The Wrestler won the prestigious Golden Lion prize at the 2008 Venice Film Festival² (it is only the third American film to win this award in over 65 years), as well as two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama for Rourke and Best Original Song for the song The Wrestler written and performed by Bruce Springsteen. Marisa Tomei and Mickey Rourke were nominated for Academy Awards.

Future projects

Currently, Aronofsky is working with Natalie Portman Mila Kunis, Wynona Rider and Vincent Cassel on a project called "Black Swan" that Aronofsky had originally developed in 2007 for Universal.³ Aronofsky is also planning a Noah’s Ark Project⁴ which he started developing before Pi, and was co-written with Ari Handel.⁵ Aronofsky is also working on a film based on the February 2006 heist at the Securitas Depot in Tonbridge, England. ⁶

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1991	Supermarket Sweep	Director	Student film — never distributed
1993	Fortune Cookie	Director	Student film — never distributed
1993	Protozoa	Director	Student film — never distributed
1993	American Dreamcitation needed	Director	Student film — never distributed
1998	π	Director, Producer, Writer	Winner of 1999 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay
2000	Requiem for a Dream	Director, Producer, Writer
2002	Below	Producer, Writer
2006	The Fountain	Director, Producer, Writer,	Winner of the Hampton's Sloan Prize Best Score at World Soundtrack Awards
2008	The Wrestler	Director, Producer	Winner of 2008 Golden Lion award2 Winner of two Golden Globe Awards Winner of three Independent Spirit Awards
2010	Black Swan	Director, Producer, Writer	filming
2011	RoboCop	Director, Producer, Writer	under development

Personal life

Aronofsky is engaged to English actress Rachel Weisz. They began dating in 2001 and have a son, Henry Chance, born on May 31, 2006, in New York City.⁷⁸ The couple resides in Manhattan.

References

External links

Websites

• Darren Aronofsky's official website
• Darren Aronosky's official blog
• Darren Aronofsky Films on Tumblr
• Darren Aronofsky at the Internet Movie Database
• Darren's MySpace
• Darren Aronofsky at Yahoo! Movies
• Darren Aronofsky: First Person Cinema (study guide)
• Darren Aronofsky at AskMen.com

Interviews

• January 21, 1998 IndieWire.com by Anthony Kaufman
• July 22, 1998 The A.V. Club by Joshua Klein
• November 6, 2000 SciFi.com by Michael Marano
• November 28, 2005 CHUD.com by Devin Faraci
• November 2006 Wired by Steve Silberman
• November 15, 2006 Arizona Republic by Kathy Cano-Murillo
• November 21, 2006 The A.V. Club by Tasha Robinson
• Darren Aronofsky and Rachel Weisz Talk About "The Fountain"
• June 1, 2009 (video) Screenwriting strategies
• October 5, 2009 (video) Directing strategies

v • d • e Films directed by Darren Aronofsky π (1998) · Requiem for a Dream (2000) · The Fountain (2006) · The Wrestler (2008)

Persondata
NAME	Aronofsky, Darren
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Film director
DATE OF BIRTH	1969-2-12
PLACE OF BIRTH	Brooklyn, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH