Editing Alejandro Jodorowsky (section)

{{Short description|Chilean and French filmmaker (born 1929)}}
{{Redirect|Jodorowsky|other people|Jodorowsky (surname)}}
{{Family name hatnote|Jodorowsky|Prullansky|lang=Spanish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Alejandro Jodorowsky
| image              = Utopiales 2011 Alejandro Jodorowsky 16 (cropped).jpg
| caption            = Jodorowsky in 2011
| birth_name         = Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1929|2|17|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Tocopilla]], Chile
| citizenship        = {{Hlist|Chile|France}}
| alma_mater         = [[University of Chile]] <br> [[Paris-Sorbonne University]]
| occupation         = {{Hlist|Film director|screenwriter|actor|author}}
| spouse             = {{ubl|{{Marriage|Valérie Trumblay<br>||1982|end=div}}|{{Marriage|Pascale Montandon<br>|2003}}}}
| children           = 5, including [[Brontis Jodorowsky|Brontis]], [[Axel Jodorowsky|Axel]] and [[Adán Jodorowsky|Adán]]
| relatives          = [[Alma Jodorowsky]] (granddaughter)
| movement           = [[Panic Movement]]
| years_active       = 1948–present
}}
'''Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky''' ({{IPA|es|xoðoˈɾofski|lang}}; born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean and French [[Experimental film|avant-garde]] filmmaker. Known for his films ''[[El Topo]]'' (1970), ''[[The Holy Mountain (1973 film)|The Holy Mountain]]'' (1973) and ''[[Santa Sangre]]'' (1989), Jodorowsky has been "venerated by [[cult film|cult cinema]] enthusiasts" for his work which "is filled with violently [[surrealism|surreal]] images and a hybrid blend of [[mysticism]] and religious provocation".<ref name="Church">{{Cite journal|last=Church|first=David|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky|url=http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/07/jodorowsky.html|url-status=dead|journal=Senses of Cinema|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100129173737/http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/07/jodorowsky.html|archive-date=29 January 2010}}</ref>

Dropping out of college, he became involved in theater and in particular [[mime]], working as a clown before founding his own theater troupe, the ''Teatro Mimico'', in 1947. Moving to Paris in the early 1950s, Jodorowsky studied traditional mime under [[Étienne Decroux]], and put his miming skills to use in the silent film ''[[Les têtes interverties]]'' (1957), directed with Saul Gilbert and Ruth Michelly. From 1960 onwards he divided his time between Mexico City and Paris, where he co-founded [[Panic Movement]], a surrealist [[performance art]] collective that staged violent and shocking theatrical events. In 1966 he created his first comic strip, ''Anibal 5'', and in 1967 he directed his first feature film, the surrealist ''[[Fando y Lis]]'', which caused a huge scandal in Mexico, eventually being banned.

His next film, the [[acid western]] ''[[El Topo]]'' (1970), became a hit on the [[midnight movie]] circuit in the United States, considered the first-ever midnight cult film, and garnered high praise from [[John Lennon]], who convinced former [[Beatles]] manager [[Allen Klein]] to provide Jodorowsky with $1&nbsp;million to finance his next film. The result was ''The Holy Mountain'' (1973), a surrealist exploration of [[western esotericism]]. Disagreements with Klein, however, led to both ''The Holy Mountain'' and ''El Topo'' failing to gain widespread distribution, although both became classics on the underground film circuit.<ref name="Church"/> After [[Dune (Jodorowsky film)|a cancelled attempt]] at filming [[Frank Herbert]]'s 1965 science fiction novel ''[[Dune (novel)|Dune]]'', Jodorowsky produced five more films: the family film ''[[Tusk (1980 film)|Tusk]]'' (1980); the surrealist horror ''[[Santa Sangre]]'' (1989); the failed blockbuster ''[[The Rainbow Thief]]'' (1990); and the first two films in a planned five-film autobiographical series ''[[The Dance of Reality]]'' (2013) and ''[[Endless Poetry]]'' (2016).

Jodorowsky is also a [[comic book writer]], most notably penning the science fiction series ''[[The Incal]]'' throughout the 1980s, which has been described as having a claim to be "the best comic book" ever written.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} Other comic books he has written include ''[[The Technopriests]]'' and ''[[Metabarons]]''. Jodorowsky has also extensively written and lectured about his own spiritual system, which he calls "psychomagic" and "psychoshamanism", which borrows from [[alchemy]], the [[tarot]], [[Zen Buddhism]] and [[shamanism]].{{sfn|Jodorowsky|2005|p=xi}} His son Cristóbal has followed his teachings on psychoshamanism; this work is captured in the feature documentary ''Quantum Men'', directed by Carlos Serrano Azcona.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 January 1980|title=Sitges Film Festival 'Quantum Men'|url=http://sitgesfilmfestival.com/eng/film/?id=10002152|publisher=Sitgesfilmfestival.com}}</ref>