NICOLAS WINDING REFN

Born 29 September 1970, Nicolas Winding Refn is a Danish film director, screenwriter and producer. He moved to the United States in 1978, and is known for directing the Pusher films. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and raised partly in New York, United States. His parents are Danish film director and editor, Anders Refn, and cinematographer, Vibeke Winding. Winding Refn has cited viewing The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) as inspiration for his filmmaking career saying, “I grew up in a cinema family. My parents were brought up on the French New Wave. That was God to them, but to me it was the antichrist, and how better to rebel against your parents than by watching something your mother is going to hate, which were American horror movies. When I saw Texas Chain Saw Massacre, I realized: I don't want to be a director, I don't want to be a writer, I don't want to be a producer, I don't want to be a photographer, I don't want to be an editor, I don't want to be a sound man. I want to be all of them at once. He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts but was expelled for throwing a table into a wall.
Winding Refn made his directorial debut with the Danish crime drama film Pusher (1996). The original film garnered a Best Supporting Actor Award at the 1997 Bodil Awards. Refn later made two sequels, Pusher II (2004) and Pusher 3 (2005). Refn directed the crime-drama-thriller Bleeder (1999). He won the FIPRESCI prize for the film at the 2000 Sarajevo Film Festival, and the film also won Best Lighting at the Robert Festival, and was nominated for Best Film and Best Supporting Actress at the 2000 Bodil Awards, as well as for the Grand Prix Asturias for Best Feature at the 1999 Gijon International Film Festival.
In 2003, Refn directed and wrote his first U.S. based Hollywood film, Fear X, which starred John Turturro. It won an International Fantasy Film Award for Best Screenplay at the 2004 Fantasporto Film Festival, and was nominated for best actor awards (for Turturro) at the Bodil Awards and the Fangoria Awards, and best film awards at festivals including Sitges Film Festival and the Sochi International Film Festival. In 2008, Refn returned to the European art house film circuit after his unsuccessful Hollywood venture Fear X, and directed and wrote Bronson, which won Best Film at the 2009 Sydney Film Festival. Hardy also won a Best Actor award at the 2009 British Independent Film Awards for his portrayal of Charles Bronson.
In 2009, Refn teamed up again with frequent collaborator Mads Mikkelsen to write and direct Valhalla Rising, a surrealistic period piece about the brutal Viking era. The film won an International Fantasy Film Special Jury Award and Special Mention at the 2010 Fantasporto Festival, and won the Titra Film Award for Refn at the 2010 Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival. The film also won a Best Make-Up award at the 2011 Robert Festival.
In 2011, Winding Refn directed the American neo-noir crime drama Drive (2011). It premiered in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where he received the Best Director Award. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in 2012 for "Best Sound Editing", and many other awards and nominations.  Only God Forgives, his latest movie which is a Bangkok-set crime thriller, premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Source: Internet