Alejandro Jodorowsky

Directing

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Born

1929-02-17 (97)

Place of birth

Tocopilla, Chile

Known for

Directing

Credits

81 titles

Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky, known as Alejandro Jodorowsky (born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean filmmaker, playwright, composer and writer with a large cult following. Best known for his avant-garde films, he has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his work which "is filled with violently surreal images and a hybrid blend of mysticism and religious provocation." His most notable works include El Topo (1970), The Holy Mountain (1973) and Santa Sangre (1989), all of which have had limited release but achieved popularity amongst various countercultural groups. He has cited the filmmaker Federico Fellini as his primary cinematic influence, and has been described as an influence o…

Known for

The Dick Cavett Show poster
6.8

The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.

The Dick Cavett Show

1968

Eurotrash poster
6.5

The likes of Antoine de Caunes, Jean Paul Gaultier, Davina McCall, and Lolo Ferrari are your guides to the weird and wonderful in Europe and beyond. How else would you learn about pubic hairdressers, the Penis Olympics, or the latest Japanese sex toys?

Eurotrash

1993

Through the Night with... poster
7.9

Durch die Nacht mit … is a German documentary film television series produced by ZDF for Franco-German television channel ARTE. Locations are mainly in France or Germany. The title of the French version is Au cœur de la nuit. Two Celebrities spend an filmed evening together. One of them is the host who sets the location and the program. There is no moderator.

Through the Night with...

2002

De pé a pá poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

De pé a pá

1996

Le Cercle poster
NR

As long as there is cinema, LE CERCLE will be there. It is the only television program of critical debates 100% devoted to cinema. Each week, it offers fiery, joyful and non-condescending jousts on the films on the bill; and invites with "Le questionnaire du CERCLE" directors to come and share their passion for cinema.

Le Cercle

2005

The Holy Mountain poster
7.5

The Alchemist assembles together a group of people from all walks of life to represent the planets in the solar system. The occult adept's intention is to put his recruits through strange mystical rites and divest them of their worldly baggage before embarking on a trip to Lotus Island. There they ascend the Holy Mountain to displace the immortal gods who secretly rule the universe.

The Holy Mountain

1973

Film credits

2020s · 6 titles

Fake News poster
4.1

After stealing a gaming console from migrants, Sébastien tries to sell it to Patrick, a good guy. So far, nothing too serious. But when a rapper straight out of jail, a TV host willing to do anything to go viral and click traffickers get involved... Sébastien and Patrick become France’s most wanted bad guys.

Fake News

2021

John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office poster
6.7

The daring experimenter Dr. John C. Lilly dedicated his life to radical self-investigation and unlocking the mysteries of consciousness and communication. “My body is my laboratory” was the motto, and his research on the language of dolphins and whales – as well as psychedelics and sensory deprivation – assured his own cult status in 20th-century pop culture as the basis for Ken Russel’s Altered States and Mike Nichols’s The Day of the Dolphin. Directors Michael Almareyda and Courtney Stephens, along with narrator Chloë Sevigny, explore the life of a determined scientist and his experiments into the psychonautical unknown.

John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office

2025

Helicopter poster
0.5

To heal the wounds of his family and spirit, Director Ari Gold goes on an epic two year journey to complete a "Psychomagic assignment" given to him by filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Helicopter

2024

The Dark Fantastic poster
NR

The Dark Fantastic is a psychedelic journey into the mind of renowned composer Simon Boswell, blending live performances, striking visuals, and interviews with directors he’s scored for. It celebrates his bold impact on cinema and invites viewers into a surreal fusion of music and storytelling.

The Dark Fantastic

2025

Tripping The Dark Fantastic poster
NR

Showcasing a live performance at Earth Theatre, London in 2021 and interviews with the artists he has collaborated with from over 35 years of scoring horror, fantasy and genre films, TRIPPING THE DARK FANTASTIC is a stunning record of musician Simon Boswell’s career. An exciting trip through such classics as PHENOMENA, DEMONS 2, STAGE FRIGHT, SANTA SANGRE, PERDITA DURANGO, LORD OF ILLUSIONS, SHALLOW GRAVE, HARDWARE and many others, peppered with appearances by the likes of directors Dario Argento, Alejandro Jodorowsky, the concert features Simon with his 12 piece band, Caduta Massi, filmed by acclaimed DOP Vince Knight.

Tripping The Dark Fantastic

2022

What the Forest conceals poster
NR

CE QUE CACHE LA FORÊT (What the Forest conceals) explores the invisible inheritance we carry within us: that of the family unconscious passed down from generation to generation. Personalities as varied as psychologist Anne Ancelin Schützenberger, systemic therapist Bert Hellinger and artist Alexandro Jodorowsky have, each in their own way, revealed the existence of these unresolved stories that profoundly influence our lives. Today, epigenetic research confirms that trauma can mark our genome, and be passed on beyond those who experienced it. But how do these memories get inscribed in us? How can they be recognized, overcome and healed? Filmmaker Louis Mouchet shares his own journey through this deeply personal film. This process was nourished by : The making of and follow-up to the film La Constellation Jodorowsky, An introspective dive triggered by the death of his mother and the simultaneous birth of his first child, A powerful session with Romanian therapist Cristina Schmidt.

What the Forest conceals

2023

2010s · 13 titles

Jodorowsky's Dune poster
7.8

In 1974, Chilean-French director Alejandro Jodorowsky embarked on the quixotic project of adapting Frank Herbert's influential novel Dune (1969) for the big screen. After investing two years, and millions of dollars, the gigantic project ended in failure; but the artists Jodorowsky brought together to carry it out continued to work together, and ended up laying the foundations for modern science fiction cinema.

Jodorowsky's Dune

2013

Endless Poetry poster
7.4

A portrait of the director’s young adulthood, set in the 1940s–1950s, in the electric capital city of Santiago. There, he decides to become a poet and is introduced, by destiny, into the foremost bohemian and artistic circle of the time.

Endless Poetry

2016

Psychomagic: A Healing Art poster
6.1

Explores the therapeutic work of director Alejandro Jodorowsky, showing by means of real acts, what Psychomagic is, its principle, how it is practiced, and how it is applied in life. Jodorowsky works directly with real, suffering people who are eager to solve their problems.

Psychomagic: A Healing Art

2019

The Dance of Reality poster
7.2

'Having broken away from my illusory self, I was desperately seeking a path and a meaning to life.' This phrase perfectly sums up Alejandro Jodorowsky’s biographical project: reconstituting the incredible adventure of his life. He was born in 1929 Tocopilla, a coastal town on edge of the Chilean desert, where he discovered the fundamentals of reality, as he underwent an unhappy and alienated childhood as part of an uprooted family.

The Dance of Reality

2013

NWR poster
7.2

A documentary about Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn, winner of the Best Director award at the Cannes Festival in 2011 for Drive. From his childhood to the shooting of his next movie, Only God Forgives, in Thailand, discover the whole career of a truly visionary filmmaker. With Ryan Gosling, Mads Mikkelsen, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Gaspar Noé, Peter Peter and Zlatko Buric.

NWR

2012

My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn poster
6.4

A documentary directed by Winding Refn's wife, Liv Corfixen, and it follows the Danish-born filmmaker during the making of his 2013 film Only God Forgives.

My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

2015

Ritual - A Psychomagic Story poster
4.7

The fragile Lia suffers from a deep depression. Her relationship with her boyfriend Viktor is getting worse and worse and in the last desperate attempt to cure herself, Lia goes to visit her old aunt Agata in her creepy 18th century villa.

Ritual - A Psychomagic Story

2013

Violeta más viva que nunca poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Violeta más viva que nunca

2017

Forget Everything You Have Ever Seen: The World of Santa Sangre poster
7.0

After his dream project DUNE fell apart, visionary filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky took a break from cinema, only to return over a decade later with his most triumphant work: SANTA SANGRE.

Forget Everything You Have Ever Seen: The World of Santa Sangre

2011

A Tar poster
NR

An approach to experimental diva Diana Mariscal.

A Tar

2010

The Island poster
4.5

In Paris, Sophie and Daneel make a solid couple. Nothing, it seems, can separate them - until the day when Sophie tells her partner she has organised a surprise trip to Bulgaria. Daneel refuses to go, but Sophie insists and soon discovers just why her soul mate was so reluctant to set foot in the country...

The Island

2011

Alejandro Jodorowsky and the Seagulls poster
NR

Alejandro Jodorowsky feeds a flock of seagulls.

Alejandro Jodorowsky and the Seagulls

2016

Alejandro Jodorowsky's Social Psychomagic poster
NR

A short documentary about Alejandro Jodorowsky's therapeutic practice of psychomagic.

Alejandro Jodorowsky's Social Psychomagic

2014

2000s · 16 titles

Born Without poster
NR

'Born Without' is a documentary about severely handicapped Mexican actor and musician Jose Flores. "Born without arms and other limbs, Jose supports his large family by playing the harmonica throughout Mexico. In the face of adversity, he shows great courage and spiritual strength. This is a film with multiple layers. It is about sharing, daring and being grateful for what we have. It is also an exploration of social values, some of them controversial. Many of Jose's choices have been strongly criticized by his family and people around him. As a result, this is also a film about self discovery: a way to explore what we judge ... and what we choose to accept and forgive."

Born Without

2008

Rush to War poster
7.0

In today's post-9/11 world, director Robert Taicher searches for the rationale behind the war in Iraq, exploring the failed policies of several administrations in an expertly crafted full-length documentary. What he presents is a raw, provocative look into America's "War on Terror" and its effect on our society, our credibility, and most importantly, our security. As America fights the wrong war at the wrong time, comes a riveting eye-opener. The right film at the right time.

Rush to War

2004

Electric Yakuza, Go to Hell! poster
8.5

Documentary about the Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, where we see him attend film festivals, personal influences and of course the study of his main films, apart from the opinions about him by other filmmakers such as Takeshi Kitano or Kinji Fukasaku.

Electric Yakuza, Go to Hell!

2004

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Cherif

2002

Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream poster
6.3

From 1970-1977, six low budget films shown at midnight transformed the way we make and watch films.

Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream

2006

Moebius Redux: A Life in Pictures poster
6.7

French artist and author Jean Giraud is one of the most famous and influential comic strip illustrators and authors of all time. He achieved his greatest fame as Moebius - not so much a pseudonym as an alter ego. With his triple-split personality - Jean Giraud, Moebius, Gir - he succeeded in making his work accessible in popular comic strip series like Blueberry, in metaphysical fantasies like John Difool and, not least, to a broad public, with set designs for films such as The Fifth Element. In Moebius Redux - A Life in Pictures an exceptional artist tells his life's and work's story. Extraordinary views on Paris, Los Angeles and the Mexican desert build a visual link between his life and his artistic universe, accompanied by the electronic soundtrack composed by "Kraftwerk" legend Karl Bartos.

Moebius Redux: A Life in Pictures

2007

Niente è come sembra poster
5.8

No synopsis available yet.

Niente è come sembra

2007

La colorina poster
NR

Portrait of the Chilean poet Stella Díaz Varín (1926 -2006), who was called “La colorina” because of her red hair. Anarchist, communist, agitator, boxer, grandmother, alcoholic — the first punk in history, as it were. Based on accounts of fellow-travelers.

La colorina

2008

No artwork available
NR

Documentary about the filmmaker Fernando Arrabal.

Arrabal, Panik Cineast

2007

No Big Deal poster
4.5

Three sons are sent on a journey to trace their father's checkered past.

No Big Deal

2003

No artwork available
NR

One in a series of projects by Simon Boswell, an audio-visual installation of portraits extracted from news footage, looped to last forever, and individually scored with their own soundtracks.

Blink Jodorowsky

2002

Musikanten poster
7.0

During research for a series focused on the greatest scientists of the past, a TV producer, following a hypnosis experiment, finds herself catapulted into the 19th century, participating in the last years of Ludwig Van Beethoven's life.

Musikanten

2006

Psicotaxi poster
4.8

Fresnadillo wheel an impromptu consultation with Alejandro Jodorowsky, while driving in a taxi in the streets of Paris.

Psicotaxi

2002

No artwork available
NR

The footage is recorder in ICA, London, in December 2002 and features Jodorowsky on-stage after the screening of "Santa Sangre".

Alejandro Jodorowsky: Interview at ICA London December 2002

2003

A Conversation with Alejandro Jodorowsky poster
NR

This six minute interview with director Alejandro Jodorowsky can be found on the release of EL TOPO, his 1970 cult classic that many consider to be a masterpiece.

A Conversation with Alejandro Jodorowsky

2007

No artwork available
NR

Part behind-the-scenes interview, part lecture. DVD included with Jodorowsky's book Los Evangelios para Sanar.

Una hora con Alejandro Jodorowsky

2007

1990s · 4 titles

Jean Cocteau: Lies and Truths poster
NR

This documentary consists mainly of archive interviews of Jean Cocteau, and it features interesting contributions by Jean Marais and especially Jean-Luc Godard, who discusses Cocteau's foray into cinema. The film documents all the artistic media explored by a man who defined himself, first and foremost, as a poet.

Jean Cocteau: Lies and Truths

1997

Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: Alejandro Jodorowsky poster
NR

Profile of Chilean-French filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky and his new film Santa Sangre (1989) also including interviews with Jodorowsky on the set of his film The Rainbow Thief (1990).

Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: Alejandro Jodorowsky

1991

The Jodorowsky Constellation poster
6.4

This documentary depicts the filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky talking about his life, his loves, his career as a filmmaker, graphic novelist, and workshop leader, and his eccentricities including tarot reader and theatrical director during The Panic Movement. Directed by Louis Mouchet, La Constellation Jodorowsky includes a lengthy on-camera interview with Jodorowsky in Spanish with subtitles. Marcel Marceau, Fernando Arrabal, Peter Gabriel, Jean "Moebius" Giraud, and Jean Pierre Vignau make appearances discussing their various projects with the director. In addition to the interview and film clips, Mouchet features some bizarre footage from Jodorowsky’s absurdist plays in which topless women splattered with paint writhe around the stage in a theatrical production meant to represent The Panic Movement, i.e., an artistic expression in which reason cannot fully express the human experience.

The Jodorowsky Constellation

1994

Jodorowsky's Phylosophycal Tales poster
NR

These are initiation tales of A. Jodorowsky, tales and legends adapted from ancestral traditions, from all continents, and drawing their source from the heart of Jewish, African and Oriental traditions. Imagine real characters shot in Chinese shadow, encrusted in drawn sets. Add a 2D animation, bewitching music, and the unique voice of Alejandro. The result will be a mixture, where distant legends mix with mystery, poetry, and magic.

Jodorowsky's Phylosophycal Tales

1997

1960s · 3 titles

Undated · 2 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

The Holy Mountain poster
7.5

The Alchemist assembles together a group of people from all walks of life to represent the planets in the solar system. The occult adept's intention is to put his recruits through strange mystical rites and divest them of their worldly baggage before embarking on a trip to Lotus Island. There they ascend the Holy Mountain to displace the immortal gods who secretly rule the universe.

The Holy Mountain

1973

The Holy Mountain poster
7.5

The Alchemist assembles together a group of people from all walks of life to represent the planets in the solar system. The occult adept's intention is to put his recruits through strange mystical rites and divest them of their worldly baggage before embarking on a trip to Lotus Island. There they ascend the Holy Mountain to displace the immortal gods who secretly rule the universe.

The Holy Mountain

1973

The Holy Mountain poster
7.5

The Alchemist assembles together a group of people from all walks of life to represent the planets in the solar system. The occult adept's intention is to put his recruits through strange mystical rites and divest them of their worldly baggage before embarking on a trip to Lotus Island. There they ascend the Holy Mountain to displace the immortal gods who secretly rule the universe.

The Holy Mountain

1973

El Topo poster
7.0

El Topo decides to confront warrior Masters on a trans-formative desert journey he begins with his 6 year old son, who must bury his childhood totems to become a man.

El Topo

1970

El Topo poster
7.0

El Topo decides to confront warrior Masters on a trans-formative desert journey he begins with his 6 year old son, who must bury his childhood totems to become a man.

El Topo

1970

Santa Sangre poster
7.2

A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his armless, cult leader mother, and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name.

Santa Sangre

1989

Santa Sangre poster
7.2

A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his armless, cult leader mother, and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name.

Santa Sangre

1989

Fando and Lis poster
6.8

Fando and his partially paralysed lover Lis search for the mythical city of Tar.

Fando and Lis

1972

Fando and Lis poster
6.8

Fando and his partially paralysed lover Lis search for the mythical city of Tar.

Fando and Lis

1972

Endless Poetry poster
7.4

A portrait of the director’s young adulthood, set in the 1940s–1950s, in the electric capital city of Santiago. There, he decides to become a poet and is introduced, by destiny, into the foremost bohemian and artistic circle of the time.

Endless Poetry

2016

Endless Poetry poster
7.4

A portrait of the director’s young adulthood, set in the 1940s–1950s, in the electric capital city of Santiago. There, he decides to become a poet and is introduced, by destiny, into the foremost bohemian and artistic circle of the time.

Endless Poetry

2016

Psychomagic: A Healing Art poster
6.1

Explores the therapeutic work of director Alejandro Jodorowsky, showing by means of real acts, what Psychomagic is, its principle, how it is practiced, and how it is applied in life. Jodorowsky works directly with real, suffering people who are eager to solve their problems.

Psychomagic: A Healing Art

2019

Psychomagic: A Healing Art poster
6.1

Explores the therapeutic work of director Alejandro Jodorowsky, showing by means of real acts, what Psychomagic is, its principle, how it is practiced, and how it is applied in life. Jodorowsky works directly with real, suffering people who are eager to solve their problems.

Psychomagic: A Healing Art

2019

The Rainbow Thief poster
5.3

A petty crook, in search of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, hopes to cash in by befriending an heir to a huge fortune.

The Rainbow Thief

1994

The Dance of Reality poster
7.2

'Having broken away from my illusory self, I was desperately seeking a path and a meaning to life.' This phrase perfectly sums up Alejandro Jodorowsky’s biographical project: reconstituting the incredible adventure of his life. He was born in 1929 Tocopilla, a coastal town on edge of the Chilean desert, where he discovered the fundamentals of reality, as he underwent an unhappy and alienated childhood as part of an uprooted family.

The Dance of Reality

2013

The Dance of Reality poster
7.2

'Having broken away from my illusory self, I was desperately seeking a path and a meaning to life.' This phrase perfectly sums up Alejandro Jodorowsky’s biographical project: reconstituting the incredible adventure of his life. He was born in 1929 Tocopilla, a coastal town on edge of the Chilean desert, where he discovered the fundamentals of reality, as he underwent an unhappy and alienated childhood as part of an uprooted family.

The Dance of Reality

2013

The Dance of Reality poster
7.2

'Having broken away from my illusory self, I was desperately seeking a path and a meaning to life.' This phrase perfectly sums up Alejandro Jodorowsky’s biographical project: reconstituting the incredible adventure of his life. He was born in 1929 Tocopilla, a coastal town on edge of the Chilean desert, where he discovered the fundamentals of reality, as he underwent an unhappy and alienated childhood as part of an uprooted family.

The Dance of Reality

2013

The Severed Heads poster
6.1

A short mime adaptation of a Thomas Mann story about a Parisian urchin who makes her living selling human heads.

The Severed Heads

1957

The Severed Heads poster
6.1

A short mime adaptation of a Thomas Mann story about a Parisian urchin who makes her living selling human heads.

The Severed Heads

1957

Tusk poster
4.9

An English girl and an Indian elephant, born on the same day, share a common destiny...

Tusk

1980

Tusk poster
4.9

An English girl and an Indian elephant, born on the same day, share a common destiny...

Tusk

1980

He! Viva Dada poster
NR

Report from the second free expression festival organized at the American Cultural Center, Boulevard Raspail, in May 1965. The shows, all happenings inspired by ""théâtre panique/ the panic theater", includes Fernando Arrabal, Roland Topor and Alejandro Jodorowsky.

He! Viva Dada

1965

Apolinar poster
6.3

Tancredo, a poor man, is in love with a rich girl, who does not return his feelings. One day when she is bathing in a river, a flood sweeps her away and Tancredo is unable to save her. Mad with grief, he steals the sun. The gods call Apolinar to restore light to the earth, but he is obstructed by the magician of darkness, until by means of a telescope he is able to send a bag of light to Tancredo, now grown old. Tancredo goes to the seashore and opens the bag of light as an offering to his beloved, whereupon the sun returns to the earth.

Apolinar

1972

Pubertinaje poster
6.3

Three episodes: 1) "A Christmas dinner" where the family members fantasize about being somewhere else. The fetishist father wants to put on feminine clothes. The son longs for another transvestite adventure. The daughter yearns to be a singer and destroy the saints of the church with her voice. The youngest son wants to stab everyone dead. 2) "Game of mirrors". Two young classmates kiss on a picnic, but the girl's brother accuses the couple of being immoral. Bizarre things develop. 3) "Tetrahedron". A very fat man faces his girlfriend's longing for love.

Pubertinaje

1978

Melodrama Sacramental poster
5.9

The Panic Movement performed theatrical events designed to be shocking, as a response to surrealism becoming petite bourgeoisie and to release destructive energies in search of peace and beauty. One four-hour performance known as Melodrama Sacramentral was staged in May 1965 at the Paris Festival of Free Expression. The "happening" starred Jodorowsky dressed in motorcyclist leather and featured him slitting the throats of two geese, taping two snakes to his chest and having himself stripped and whipped. Other scenes included a staged murder of a rabbi, a crucified chicken, a giant vagina giving birth to Jodorowsky, naked women covered in honey and the throwing of live turtles into the audience.

Melodrama Sacramental

1965

No artwork available
NR

The footage is recorder in ICA, London, in December 2002 and features Jodorowsky on-stage after the screening of "Santa Sangre".

Alejandro Jodorowsky: Interview at ICA London December 2002

2003