Known for his unique visual style and distinctive narrative technique, writer-director, producer and actor Wes Anderson is beloved by film buffs around the world. Since his arrival in America cinema two decades ago, he has created a niche for himself as one of the foremost auteurs of our times. Along the way, Anderson has also received several international accolades, including six Academy Award nominations, a BAFTA Award and honours at Cannes, Venice and Berlin Film Festivals.
Anderson made his feature film debut as a writer-director with the crime-comedy Bottle Rocket (1996), which was co-written by and starred his frequent collaborator and college mate Owen Wilson. Despite the poor box office performance, the film was well-received by the critics and heralded of greater things to come. The 1998 comedy-drama Rushmore, which told the story of an eccentric teenager named Max Fischer, established Anderson as the new doyen of independent cinema and won him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Director that year. The film also marked the first of many collaborations between the director and actor Bill Murray.
In 2001, the filmmaker landed the first Academy Award nomination of his career with the comedy-drama The Royal Tenenbaums, which also remained his highest grossing film for over a decade. In the years that followed, Anderson continued to charm the audience through quirky comedies like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), which were all well-received by the critics and the audience alike. The coming-of-age comedy-drama Moonrise Kingdom (2012) earned the writer-director yet another Oscar nod for Best Original Screenplay in 2013, besides doing phenomenally well at the box office.
In 2014, Anderson helmed one of the biggest films of his career - the ensemble comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel. Set in 1930s, the film followed the adventures of a concierge at a renowned European hotel, and featured a stellar cast that included Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Jude Law and Adrien Brody. His work in The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) earned Anderson the first Best Director Oscar nomination of his career, besides nods for Best Original Screenplay and Best Film. He also went on to win a BAFTA Award, and a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for the same. In 2018, Anderson wrote, produced and directed the stop-motion animated comedy Isle of Dogs, which featured voice roles by Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson and Jeff Goldblum.