Darren Aronofsky Biography

Fast Facts

• Moved to Israel after graduating high school to live on a kibbutz, and briefly worked in an Israeli plastic factory
• His Harvard University senior thesis film, the short Supermarket Sweep (1993), was a finalist in the Student Academy Awards
• Made his feature-film directing debut in 1996 with dark sci-fi/thriller Pi, which reportedly cost only $60,000 (and was financed mainly by donations from friends and family) but grossed more than $3 million in the U
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• Won several awards for Pi, including the Sundance Film Festival's Director's Award and the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance
• Was signed by Warner Bros
• to create a film adaptation of Frank Miller's acclaimed graphic novel Batman: Year One in 2000
• The project fell through, and Christopher Nolan went on to resurrect the Batman franchise with 2005 smash Batman Begins
• His 2010 thriller, Black Swan, received a record 12 nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association