Gregg Araki

Gregg Araki
Araki at the Deauville American Film Festival in September 2014
Born	(1959-12-17) December 17, 1959 (age 57) Los Angeles, California, United States
Nationality	American
Education	University of California, Santa Barbara (B.A. 1982) University of Southern California (M.F.A. 1985)
Occupation	Filmmaker and film director
Years active	1987–present
Style	New Queer Cinema
Home town	Santa Barbara, California, United States
Awards	Cannes Film Festival Queer Palm (2010)

Gregg Araki (born December 17, 1959) is an American independent filmmaker and film director involved heavily with New Queer Cinema. His film Kaboom was the first ever winner of the Cannes Film Festival Queer Palm awarded in 2010.

Araki was born in Los Angeles on December 17, 1959 to Japanese American parents. He grew up in nearby Santa Barbara, California and enrolled in college at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He graduated with a B.A. from UCSB in 1982. He later attended the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, where he graduated with a M.F.A. in 1985.

Araki made his directorial debut in 1987 with Three Bewildered People in the Night. With a budget of only $5,000 and using a stationary camera, he told the story of a romance between a video artist, her sweet-heart and her gay friend. Two years later, Araki followed up with The Long Weekend (O' Despair), another film with a $5,000 budget. His third film, The Living End, saw an increase to $20,000. He had to shoot his early movies often spontaneously and lacking proper permits.

Despite the financial constraints, Araki's films received critical acclaim. He received awards from the Locarno International Film Festival and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, with an additional nomination for a Sundance Film Festival award.