Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky is a renowned Chilean and French avant-garde filmmaker, celebrated for his influential works in cult cinema, such as El Topo (1970), The Holy Mountain (1973), and Santa Sangre (1989). His films are known for their surreal imagery and a blend of mysticism with religious provocation.

Born to Jewish-Ukrainian parents in Chile, Jodorowsky had an unhappy childhood which led him to immerse himself in poetry. Leaving college, he ventured into theater and mime, founding Teatro Mimico in 1947. Moving to Paris in the 1950s, he studied mime under Étienne Decroux and co-founded the Panic Movement, a surrealist performance art collective.

Jodorowsky's film career began with the surrealist Fando y Lis (1967), followed by the midnight cult film El Topo. His subsequent film The Holy Mountain (1973), though not widely distributed initially, solidified his status as a cult filmmaker. He later directed films like Tusk (1980), The Rainbow Thief (1990), and autobiographical films The Dance of Reality (2013) and Endless Poetry (2016).

Besides filmmaking, Jodorowsky is a prolific comic book writer, known for series like The Incal, The Technopriests, and Metabarons. He also developed a unique spiritual system known as "psychomagic" and "psychoshamanism", which blends various mystical traditions.

Jodorowsky's influence spans multiple artistic disciplines, making him a pivotal figure in avant-garde art and cinema.