View source for Alejandro Jodorowsky

{{Short description|Chilean and French filmmaker (born 1929)}}
{{Redirect|Jodorowsky|other people|Jodorowsky (surname)}}
{{Family name hatnote|Jodorowsky|Prullansky|lang=Spanish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Alejandro Jodorowsky
| image              = Utopiales 2011 Alejandro Jodorowsky 16 (cropped).jpg
| caption            = Jodorowsky in 2011
| birth_name         = Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1929|2|17|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Tocopilla]], Chile
| citizenship        = {{Hlist|Chile|France}}
| alma_mater         = [[University of Chile]] <br> [[Paris-Sorbonne University]]
| occupation         = {{Hlist|Film director|screenwriter|actor|author}}
| spouse             = {{ubl|{{Marriage|Valérie Trumblay<br>||1982|end=div}}|{{Marriage|Pascale Montandon<br>|2003}}}}
| children           = 5, including [[Brontis Jodorowsky|Brontis]], [[Axel Jodorowsky|Axel]] and [[Adán Jodorowsky|Adán]]
| relatives          = [[Alma Jodorowsky]] (granddaughter)
| movement           = [[Panic Movement]]
| years_active       = 1948–present
}}
'''Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky''' ({{IPA|es|xoðoˈɾofski|lang}}; born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean and French [[Experimental film|avant-garde]] filmmaker. Known for his films ''[[El Topo]]'' (1970), ''[[The Holy Mountain (1973 film)|The Holy Mountain]]'' (1973) and ''[[Santa Sangre]]'' (1989), Jodorowsky has been "venerated by [[cult film|cult cinema]] enthusiasts" for his work which "is filled with violently [[surrealism|surreal]] images and a hybrid blend of [[mysticism]] and religious provocation".<ref name="Church">{{Cite journal|last=Church|first=David|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky|url=http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/07/jodorowsky.html|url-status=dead|journal=Senses of Cinema|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100129173737/http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/07/jodorowsky.html|archive-date=29 January 2010}}</ref>

Dropping out of college, he became involved in theater and in particular [[mime]], working as a clown before founding his own theater troupe, the ''Teatro Mimico'', in 1947. Moving to Paris in the early 1950s, Jodorowsky studied traditional mime under [[Étienne Decroux]], and put his miming skills to use in the silent film ''[[Les têtes interverties]]'' (1957), directed with Saul Gilbert and Ruth Michelly. From 1960 onwards he divided his time between Mexico City and Paris, where he co-founded [[Panic Movement]], a surrealist [[performance art]] collective that staged violent and shocking theatrical events. In 1966 he created his first comic strip, ''Anibal 5'', and in 1967 he directed his first feature film, the surrealist ''[[Fando y Lis]]'', which caused a huge scandal in Mexico, eventually being banned.

His next film, the [[acid western]] ''[[El Topo]]'' (1970), became a hit on the [[midnight movie]] circuit in the United States, considered the first-ever midnight cult film, and garnered high praise from [[John Lennon]], who convinced former [[Beatles]] manager [[Allen Klein]] to provide Jodorowsky with $1&nbsp;million to finance his next film. The result was ''The Holy Mountain'' (1973), a surrealist exploration of [[western esotericism]]. Disagreements with Klein, however, led to both ''The Holy Mountain'' and ''El Topo'' failing to gain widespread distribution, although both became classics on the underground film circuit.<ref name="Church"/> After [[Dune (Jodorowsky film)|a cancelled attempt]] at filming [[Frank Herbert]]'s 1965 science fiction novel ''[[Dune (novel)|Dune]]'', Jodorowsky produced five more films: the family film ''[[Tusk (1980 film)|Tusk]]'' (1980); the surrealist horror ''[[Santa Sangre]]'' (1989); the failed blockbuster ''[[The Rainbow Thief]]'' (1990); and the first two films in a planned five-film autobiographical series ''[[The Dance of Reality]]'' (2013) and ''[[Endless Poetry]]'' (2016).

Jodorowsky is also a [[comic book writer]], most notably penning the science fiction series ''[[The Incal]]'' throughout the 1980s, which has been described as having a claim to be "the best comic book" ever written.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} Other comic books he has written include ''[[The Technopriests]]'' and ''[[Metabarons]]''. Jodorowsky has also extensively written and lectured about his own spiritual system, which he calls "psychomagic" and "psychoshamanism", which borrows from [[alchemy]], the [[tarot]], [[Zen Buddhism]] and [[shamanism]].{{sfn|Jodorowsky|2005|p=xi}} His son Cristóbal has followed his teachings on psychoshamanism; this work is captured in the feature documentary ''Quantum Men'', directed by Carlos Serrano Azcona.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 January 1980|title=Sitges Film Festival 'Quantum Men'|url=http://sitgesfilmfestival.com/eng/film/?id=10002152|publisher=Sitgesfilmfestival.com}}</ref>

==Early life and education==

=== Early life ===
Alejandro Jodorowsky was born on February 17, 1929, in [[Tocopilla|Tocopilla, Chile]] to immigrant [[History of the Jews in Ukraine|Ukrainian Jewish]] parents Jaime Jodorowsky Groismann and Sara Felicidad Prullansky Arcavi from [[Yekaterinoslav]] and [[Elisavetgrad]] in the [[Russian Empire]]. According to Jodorowsky's account, [[Pregnancy from rape|he was conceived from sexual violence that his mother had faced]], as his father was [[Domestic violence|physically and sexually abusive towards her]]. Due to this, his mother disliked Jodorowsky, and detested his father.{{sfn|Jodorowsky|2005|pp=39–40}} Alejandro also had an elder sister, Raquel Jodorowsky, but disliked her, as he believed that she was selfish and trying to "expel me from the family so that she could be the centre of attention."{{sfn|Jodorowsky|2005|p=140}} Alongside his dislike for his family, he also held contempt for many of the local people, who viewed him as an outsider because of his status as the son of immigrants. Jodorowsky did not have a [[Bar and bat mitzvah|Bar Mitzvah]] or celebrate any Jewish holidays as his parents concealed their Jewish identity for much of Jodorowsky's life.<ref name="theparisreview.org">{{Cite web |date=2018-03-08 |title=Buy High, Sell Cheap: An Interview with Alejandro Jodorowsky |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/08/buy-high-sell-cheap-an-interview-with-alejandro-jodorowsky/ |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=The Paris Review |language=en}}</ref>

Jodorowsky moved to [[Santiago, Chile|Santiago]] at the age of 9, a decision he did not favor, as he liked the local areas of Tocopilla.{{sfn|Jodorowsky|2005|p=115}} Growing up, his dislike of the American mining industrialists who worked locally and treated the Chilean people badly later influenced his condemnation of [[American imperialism]] and [[neo-colonialism]] in Latin America in several of his films.

He immersed himself in reading, and also began writing poetry, having his first poem published when he was sixteen years old, alongside associating with such Chilean poets as [[Nicanor Parra]], [[Stella Díaz Varín]] and [[Enrique Lihn]].<ref name="empire-oct-09">{{Cite news|last=Braund|first=Simon|date=October 2009|title=All about Alejandro|page=139|work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]}}</ref> Becoming interested in the political ideology of [[anarchism]], Jodorowsky briefly attended the [[University of Chile]], studying [[psychology]] and philosophy, but dropped out after two years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Babcock |first=Jay |date=2010-02-01 |title=JODOROWSKY: "I am old. I have so many things to do, so every day I get quicker, in order to do them! I don't want to die without doing everything I wanted to do." |url=https://arthurmag.com/2010/02/01/jodorowsky-i-am-old/ |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=Arthur Magazine |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Alejandro Jodorowsky |url=https://www.abkco.com/artist/alejandro-jodorowsky/ |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=ABKCO Music & Records, Inc. |language=en-US}}</ref> After leaving university, he developed an interest in theatre and particularly [[mime]], he took up employment in a [[circus]] as a [[clown]], as well as beginning a career as a theatre director.<ref name="Church" /> Meanwhile, in 1947 he founded his own theatrical troupe, the Teatro Mimico,<ref name="empire-oct-09" /> which by 1952 had fifty members, and the following year he wrote his first play, ''El Minotaura'' (''The Minotaur'').

=== Performing arts career and Panic Movement foundation ===
Jodorowsky moved to France as he felt there was little for him left in Chile.<ref name="Church" /> He settled in [[Paris]] and started to study philosophy at the [[Paris-Sorbonne University]].<ref name="theparisreview.org"/> He also started to study mime with French actor [[Étienne Decroux]] and joined the troupe of one of Decroux's students, [[Marcel Marceau]]. It was with Marceau's troupe that he went on a world tour, and wrote several routines for the group, including "The Cage" and "The Mask Maker". After this, he returned to theatre directing, working on the music hall comeback of [[Maurice Chevalier]] in Paris.<ref name="Church" />

In 1960, Jodorowsky moved to Mexico, where he settled down in [[Mexico City]]. He continued to return occasionally to France, on one occasion visiting the [[Surrealism|Surrealist]] artist [[André Breton]], but had increasingly felt disillusioned by him as he felt he had become somewhat conservative in his old age.<ref name="Church" /> Continuing his interest in surrealism, in 1962 he founded the [[Panic Movement]] along with [[Fernando Arrabal]] and [[Roland Topor]]. The movement aimed to go beyond conventional surrealist ideas by embracing absurdism. Its members refused to take themselves seriously, while laughing at those critics who did.<ref name="Church" />

It was in Mexico City that he encountered {{ill|Ejo Takata|es|Ejo Takata|v=ib}} (1928–1997), a [[Zen Buddhism|Zen Buddhist]] monk who had studied at the [[Hōryū-ji|Horyu-ji]] and [[Shōfuku-ji (Fukuoka)|Shofuku-ji]] monasteries in Japan before traveling to Mexico via the U.S. in 1967 to spread Zen. Jodorowsky became a disciple of Takata and offered his own house to be turned into a [[zendo|Zendō]]. Subsequently, Takata attracted other disciples around him, who spent their time in [[meditation]] and the study of [[koan]]s.{{sfn|Jodorowsky|2005|pp=2–4}} Eventually, Takata instructed Jodorowsky that he had to learn more about his feminine side, and so he went and befriended the English surrealist [[Leonora Carrington]], who had recently moved to Mexico.{{sfn|Jodorowsky|2005|p=24}}

==Film career==

=== Early comics and films ===
In 1957, while Jodorowsky was in Paris studying mime, he created ''[[Les têtes interverties]]'' (''The Severed Heads''), a 20-minute adaptation of [[Thomas Mann]]'s novella. It consisted almost entirely of mime and told the surreal story of a head-swapping merchant who helps a young man find courtship success. Jodorowsky played the lead role. The director [[Jean Cocteau]] admired the film and wrote an introduction for it. It was considered lost until a print of the film was discovered in 2006.

In 1966, he produced his first comic strip, ''Anibal 5'', which was related to the Panic Movement. The following year he created a new feature film, ''[[Fando y Lis]]'',<ref name="empire-oct-09" /> loosely based on a play written by [[Fernando Arrabal]], who was working with Jodorowsky on [[performance art]] at the time. ''Fando y Lis'' premiered at the 1968 [[Acapulco]] Film Festival, where it instigated a riot amongst those objecting to the film's content,<ref name="Rosenbaum92">Rosenbaum, 1992. p. 92</ref> and was subsequently banned in Mexico.<ref name="Rosenbaum93">Rosenbaum, 1992. p. 93</ref>

===''El Topo'' and ''The Holy Mountain'' (1970–1974)===
In 1970, Jodorowsky released the film ''[[El Topo]]'', which sometimes is known in English as ''The Mole'',<ref name="empire-oct-09"/> which he had both directed and starred in. An [[acid western]], ''El Topo'' tells the story of a wandering Mexican bandit and [[gunslinger]], El Topo (played by Jodorowsky), who is on a search for spiritual enlightenment, taking his young son along with him.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky {{!}} Biography, Films, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alejandro-Jodorowsky|access-date=2020-07-16|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> Along the way, he violently confronts a number of other individuals, before finally being killed and being resurrected to live within a community of deformed people who are trapped inside a mountain cave. Describing the work, he stated that "I ask of film what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs. The difference being that when one creates a psychedelic film, he need not create a film that shows the visions of a person who has taken a pill; rather, he needs to manufacture the pill."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jodorowsky |first=Alejandro |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/El_Topo.html?id=uOcuAAAAYAAJ |title=El Topo: A Book of the Film |date=1972 |publisher=Douglas Book Corporation |isbn=978-0-8256-3401-7 |pages=97 |language=en}}</ref> Knowing how ''Fando y Lis'' had caused such a scandal in Mexico, Jodorowsky decided not to release ''El Topo'' there,<ref name="Rosenbaum93" /> instead focusing on its release in other countries across the world, including Mexico's northern neighbour, the United States. It was in New York City where the film would play as a "[[midnight movie]]" for several months at [[Ben Barenholtz]]'s [[Elgin Theater]]. It attracted the attention of rock musician and countercultural figure [[John Lennon]], who thought very highly of it, and convinced the president of [[The Beatles]]' company [[Apple Corps]], [[Allen Klein]], to distribute it in the United States.{{sfn|Jodorowsky|2005|p=237}}

Klein agreed to give Jodorowsky $1&nbsp;million to go toward creating his next film. The result was ''[[The Holy Mountain (1973 film)|The Holy Mountain]]'', released in 1973. It has been suggested that ''The Holy Mountain'' may have been inspired by [[René Daumal]]'s Surrealist novel ''[[Mount Analogue]]''. ''The Holy Mountain'' was another complex, multi-part story that featured a man credited as "The Thief" and equated with Jesus Christ, a mystical [[Alchemy|alchemist]] played by Jodorowsky, seven powerful business people representing seven of the planets (Venus and the six planets from Mars to Pluto), a religious training regimen of spiritual rebirth, and a quest to the top of a holy mountain for the secret of [[immortality]]. During the completion of ''The Holy Mountain'', Jodorowsky received spiritual training from [[Oscar Ichazo]] of the [[Arica School]], who encouraged him to take [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]] and guided him through the subsequent [[Psychedelia|psychedelic]] experience.<ref>Jodorowsky's audio commentary on the Anchor Bay DVD of ''The Holy Mountain''.</ref> Around the same time (2 November 1973), Jodorowsky participated in an [[isolation tank]] experiment conducted by [[John C. Lilly|John Lilly]].<ref>[[John C. Lilly]], ''The Deep Self: Profound Relaxation and the Tank Isolation Technique'', Simon & Schuster (1977), pp. 220–221.</ref>

Shortly thereafter, Allen Klein demanded that Jodorowsky create a film adaptation of Pauline Réage's classic novel of female [[Sadomasochism|masochism]], ''[[Story of O]]''. Klein had promised this adaptation to various investors. Jodorowsky, who had discovered [[feminism]] during the filming of ''The Holy Mountain'', refused to make the film, going so far as to leave the country to escape directing duties. In retaliation, Allen Klein made ''El Topo'' and ''The Holy Mountain'', to which he held the rights, completely unavailable to the public for more than 30 years. Jodorowsky frequently decried Klein's actions in interviews.<ref>[http://web5.premiere.com/directors/3354/q-a-alejandro-jodorowsky.html Premiere – Q&A: Alejandro Jodorowsky]{{dead link|date=December 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=19 June 2007|title=Trance Mutations on the Holy Mountain|url=http://electricsailor.blogspot.com/2007/06/trance-mutations-on-holy-mountain.html|access-date=1 December 2015|publisher=Electricsailor.blogspot.com}}</ref>

Soon after the release of ''The Holy Mountain'', Jodorowsky gave a talk at the Teatro [[Julio Castillo]], [[University of Mexico]] on the subject of koans (despite the fact that he initially had been booked on the condition that his talk would be about cinematography), at which Ejo Takata appeared. After the talk, Takata gave Jodorowsky his [[kyosaku]], believing that his former student had mastered the art of understanding koans.<ref>Jodorowsky, Alejandro (2005). ''The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky''. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press. pp. 194–216.</ref>

===''Dune'' and ''Tusk'' (1975–1980)===
In December 1974, a French consortium led by Jean-Paul Gibon purchased the [[film rights]] to [[Frank Herbert]]'s epic 1965 science fiction novel ''[[Dune (novel)|Dune]]'' and asked Jodorowsky to direct [[Dune (Jodorowsky film)|a film version]]. Jodorowsky planned to cast the Surrealist artist [[Salvador Dalí]], in what would have been his only speaking role as a film actor, in the role of Emperor [[Shaddam IV]]. Dalí agreed when Jodorowsky offered to pay him a fee of $100,000 per hour.<ref name="Dune">{{Cite web|last=Jodorowsky|first=Alejandro|title=The Film You Will Never See|url=https://www.duneinfo.com/unseen/jodorowsky/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616192820/http://www.duneinfo.com/unseen/jodorowsky|archive-date=16 June 2016|work=duneinfo.com}}</ref> He also planned to cast [[Orson Welles]] as Baron [[Vladimir Harkonnen]]; Welles only agreed when Jodorowsky offered to get his favourite gourmet chef to prepare his meals for him throughout the filming.{{sfn|Jodorowsky|2005|pp=227–230}} The book's protagonist, [[Paul Atreides]], was to be played by Jodorowsky's son, [[Brontis Jodorowsky]], 12 years old at the start of pre-production. The music would be composed by [[Pink Floyd]] and [[Magma (band)|Magma]].<ref name=Dune /> Jodorowsky set up a pre-production unit in Paris consisting of [[Chris Foss]], a British artist who designed covers for science fiction publications, [[Jean Giraud]] (Mœbius), a French illustrator who created and also wrote and drew for ''[[Métal Hurlant]]'' magazine, and [[H. R. Giger]].<ref name=Dune /> Frank Herbert travelled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2&nbsp;million of the $9.5&nbsp;million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled).<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Anderson|first1=Ariston|last2=Jodorowsky|first2=Alejandro|date=17 June 2013|title=10 Lessons on Filmmaking from Director Alejandro Jodorowsky|url=https://filmmakermagazine.com/72541-10-lessons-on-filmmaking-from-director-alejandro-jodorowsky/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409080232/http://filmmakermagazine.com/72541-10-lessons-on-filmmaking-from-director-alejandro-jodorowsky/|archive-date=9 April 2016|work=[[Filmmaker (magazine)|Filmmaker]]|publisher=[[Independent Feature Project]]}}</ref> Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship. The production for the film collapsed when no film studio could be found willing to fund the movie to Jodorowsky's terms. The aborted production was chronicled in the documentary ''[[Jodorowsky's Dune]]'', directed by [[Frank Pavich]]. Subsequently, the rights for filming were sold to [[Dino De Laurentiis]], who employed the American filmmaker [[David Lynch]] to direct, creating the film ''[[Dune (1984 film)|Dune]]'' in 1984. The documentary does not include any original film footage of what was to be ''Jodorowsky's Dune'' though it states that the unmade film was an influence on other science fiction films, such as ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'', ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'', ''[[The Terminator (film)|The Terminator]]'', ''[[Flash Gordon (film)|Flash Gordon]]'' and ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190312-is-jodorowskys-dune-the-greatest-film-never-made|title=Is Jodorowsky's Dune the greatest film never made? |last=Barber |first=Nicholas |date=March 14, 2019|publisher=[[BBC News]]|access-date=May 19, 2020}}</ref><ref name="EW 1341">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20326356_20879243,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209103634/http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20326356_20879243,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 December 2014 |title=10 Best/5 Worst Movies of 2014 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |first=Chris |last=Nashawaty |issue=1341 |date=December 12, 2014|access-date=December 8, 2014}}</ref> In particular, the Jodorowsky-assembled team of O'Bannon, Foss, Giger, and Giraud went on to collaborate on the 1979 film ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Scanlon |first1=Paul |author2=Michael Cross |title=The Book of Alien |publisher=[[Titan Books]] |year=1979 |location=[[London]] |isbn=1-85286-483-4}}</ref> Later, in January 2023, Frank Pavich, director of the documentary film ''Jodorowsky's Dune'', published an essay in ''[[The New York Times]]'' related to ''Jodorowsky's Dune'' (and more) that involved artwork generated by [[generative AI]].<ref name="NYT-20230113">{{cite news |last=Pavich |first=Frank |authorlink=Frank Pavich |title=This Is the 'Greatest Film Never Made' - This Film Does Not Exist |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/01/13/opinion/jodorowsky-dune-ai-tron.html |date=13 January 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |accessdate=13 January 2023 }}</ref>

After the collapse of the ''Dune'' project, Jodorowsky completely changed course and, in 1980, premiered his children's fable ''[[Tusk (1980 film)|Tusk]]'', shot in India. Taken from [[Reginald Campbell]]'s novel ''[[Poo Lorn of the Elephants]]'', the film explores the [[soul-mate]] relationship between a young British woman living in India and a highly prized elephant. The film exhibited little of the director's outlandish visual style and was never given wide release.

===''Santa Sangre'' and ''The Rainbow Thief'' (1981–1990)===

In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production ''[[Santa Sangre]]'' (''Holy Blood''). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. ''Santa Sangre'' was a surrealistic [[slasher film]] with a plot like a mix of [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Psycho (1960 film)|Psycho]]'' with [[Robert Wiene]]'s ''[[The Hands of Orlac (1924 film)|The Hands of Orlac]]''. It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors.

He followed in 1990 with a very different film, ''[[The Rainbow Thief]]''. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" [[Peter O'Toole]] and [[Omar Sharif]], the executive producer, [[Alexander Salkind]], effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, [[Berta Domínguez D.]], wrote the screenplay).

That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to France to live.{{sfn|Jodorowsky|2005|p=216}}

===Attempts to return to filmmaking (1990–2011)===
[[File:AlejandroJodorowsky.jpg|thumb|Jodorowsky in [[Sitges]], Spain (2006)]]
[[File:Alejandro-Jodorowsky-y-Diego-Moldes.París.-26.03.2008.jpg|thumb|Jodorowsky (left) and Spanish writer [[:es:Diego Moldes|Diego Moldes]] in Paris (2008)]]
In 2000, Jodorowsky won the Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the [[Chicago Underground Film Festival]] (CUFF). Jodorowsky attended the festival and his films were shown, including ''El Topo'' and ''The Holy Mountain'',<ref>{{Cite news|last=Benson|first=Eric|date=2014-03-14|title=The Psychomagical Realism of Alejandro Jodorowsky|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/magazine/the-psychomagical-realism-of-alejandro-jodorowsky.html|access-date=2020-07-16|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> which at the time had grey legal status. According to festival director [[Bryan Wendorf]], it was an open question of whether CUFF would be allowed to show both films, or whether the police would show up and shut the festival down.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky & aesthetic film|url=http://somethinofnothin.net/blog/wordpress/2011/05/08/alejandro-jodorowsky-aesthetic-film/|access-date=2 September 2019|website=SONN|date=9 May 2011 }}</ref>

Until 2007, ''Fando y Lis'' and ''Santa Sangre'' were the only Jodorowsky works available on DVD. Neither ''El Topo'' nor ''The Holy Mountain'' were available on [[videocassette]] or DVD in the United States or the United Kingdom, due to ownership disputes with distributor [[Allen Klein]]. After settlement of the dispute in 2004, however, plans to re-release Jodorowsky's films were announced by ABKCO Films. On 19 January 2007, it was announced online that [[Anchor Bay Entertainment|Anchor Bay]] would release a box set including ''El Topo'', ''The Holy Mountain'', and ''Fando y Lis'' on 1 May 2007. A limited edition of the set includes both the ''El Topo'' and ''The Holy Mountain'' soundtracks. And, in early February 2007, Tartan Video announced its 14 May 2007, release date for the UK ''PAL DVD'' editions of ''El Topo'', ''The Holy Mountain'', and the six-disc box set which, alongside the aforementioned feature films, includes the two soundtrack CDs, as well as separate DVD editions of Jodorowsky's 1968 debut feature ''Fando y Lis'' (with his 1957 short ''La cravate'' a.k.a. ''Les têtes interverties'', included as an extra) and the 1994 feature-length documentary ''La constellation Jodorowsky''. Notably, ''Fando y Lis'' and ''La cravate'' were digitally restored extensively and remastered in London during late 2006, thus providing a suitable complement to the quality restoration work undertaken on ''El Topo'' and ''The Holy Mountain'' in the States by ABKCO, and ensuring that the presentation of ''Fando y Lis'' is a significant improvement over the 2001 Fantoma DVD edition. Prior to the availability of these legitimate releases, only inferior quality, optically censored, [[Bootleg recording|bootleg]] copies of both ''El Topo'' and ''The Holy Mountain'' have been circulated on the Internet and on DVD.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Films-Alejandro-Jodorowsky-Fando-Mountain/dp/B000NY1E9E |title=The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky: (Fando y Lis / El Topo / The Holy Mountain) |access-date=2020-07-16|website=www.amazon.com|date=May 2007 }}</ref>

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Jodorowsky attempted to make [[El Topo#Sequel|a sequel to ''El Topo'']], called at different times ''The Sons of El Topo'' and ''Abel Cain'', but did not find investors for the project.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Skinner|first1=Craig|date=15 May 2016|title=The Son of El Topo or A Sensual Travel to be Alejandro Jodorowsky's next film after Endless Poetry|url=https://www.flickreel.com/the-son-of-el-topo-or-a-sensual-travel-to-be-alejandro-jodorowskys-next-film-after-endless-poetry/|access-date=2 September 2019|website=Flickreel}}</ref>

In an interview with ''[[Première (magazine)|Première]]'', Jodorowsky said he intended his next project to be a gangster film called ''[[King Shot]]''. In an interview with ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper in November 2009, however, Jodorowsky revealed that he was unable to find the funds to make ''King Shot'', and instead would be entering preparations on ''[[Abel Cain|Sons of El Topo]]'', for which he claimed to have signed a contract with "some Russian producers".<ref>{{Cite news|author=Steve Rose|date=14 November 2009|title='Lennon, Manson and me: the psychedelic cinema of Alejandro Jodorowsky' &#124; Guardian Film|work=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/nov/14/alejandro-jodorowosky-el-topo}}</ref>

In 2010, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City staged the first American cinema retrospective of Alejandro Jodorowsky entitled ''Blood into Gold: The Cinematic Alchemy of Alejandro Jodorowsky''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky: Blood into Gold|url=http://madmuseum.org/series/alejandro-jodorowsky-blood-gold|access-date=1 December 2015|website=Museum of Arts and Design}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Rapold|first1=Nicholas|date=27 September 2010|title=Confessions of a Radical Mind|website=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704082104575516483224340778|access-date=5 August 2015}}</ref> Jodorowsky would attend the retrospective and hold a master class on art as a way of transformation.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Art as a Way of Transformation A Master Class with Alejandro Jodorowsky|url=http://madmuseum.org/events/art-way-transformation|access-date=5 August 2015|website=Museum of Arts and Design}}</ref> This retrospective would inspire the museum [[MoMA PS1]] to present the exhibition ''Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Holy Mountain'' in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Holy Mountain|url=http://momaps1.org/exhibitions/view/334|access-date=5 August 2015}}</ref>

===''The Dance of Reality'' and ''Endless Poetry'' (2011–present)===
In August 2011, Alejandro arrived in a town in Chile where he grew up, also the setting of his autobiography ''[[The Dance of Reality]]'', to promote an autobiographical film based upon his book.

On 31 October 2011, [[Halloween]] night, the [[Museum of Modern Art]] (New York City) honored Jodorowsky by showing ''The Holy Mountain''. He attended and spoke about his work and life.<ref name="TarotNYT">{{Cite news|author=David Coleman|date=11 November 2011|title=When the Tarot Trumps All|work=Fashion & Style|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/fashion/alejandro-jodorowsky-and-his-tarot-de-marseille.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimesarts&seid=auto|access-date=13 November 2011}}</ref> The next evening, he presented ''El Topo'' at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FSLC announces film series celebrating Hollywood's "Jew Wave" of the late 60s/early 70s |url=https://www.filmlinc.org/press/fslc-announces-film-series-celebrating-hollywoods-jew-wave-of-the-late-60s/ |website=Film at Lincoln Center |access-date=2 September 2019}}</ref>

Alejandro has stated that after finishing ''[[The Dance of Reality]]'' he was preparing to shoot his long-gestating ''[[El Topo]]'' sequel, ''[[Abel Cain]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=30 November 2011|title=Confirma Jodorowsky su regreso al cine|url=http://eleconomista.com.mx/entretenimiento/2011/11/30/confirma-jodorowsky-su-regreso-cine|journal=[[El Economista (Mexico)|El Economista]]|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=30 November 2011|title=Jodorowsky: 'Todos los problemas vienen de la familia' &#124; Cultura|url=http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/11/30/cultura/1322631492.html|journal=[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]}}</ref> By January 2013, Alejandro finished filming on ''The Dance of Reality'' and entered into post-production. Alejandro's son and co-star in the film, Brontis, claimed the film was to be finished by March 2013, and that the film was "very different than the other films he made".<ref name="miaminewtimes1">{{Cite journal|last=Morgenstern|first=Hans|date=29 January 2013|title=Brontis Jodorowsky on His Father's New Film The Dance of Reality|url=http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/cultist/2013/01/brontis_jodorowsky_on_his_fath.php|journal=[[Miami New Times]]}}</ref> On 23 April, it was announced that the film would have its world premiere at the Film Festival in Cannes.<ref name="Elsa Keslassy @elsakeslassy">{{Cite news|author=Elsa Keslassy @elsakeslassy|date=23 April 2013|title=U.S. Fare Looms Large in Directors' Fortnight|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|url=https://variety.com/2013/film/news/hold-directors-fortnight-1200407774/}}</ref> coinciding with ''The Dance of Reality'' premiered alongside the documentary film ''[[Jodorowsky's Dune]]'', which premiered in May 2013 at the [[Cannes Film Festival]], creating a "Jodorowsky double bill".<ref>{{Cite news|author=Peter Bradshaw|date=18 May 2013|title=Cannes 2013: La Danza de la Realidad (The Dance of Reality) – first look review &#124; Film|work=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/may/18/cannes-2013-alejandro-jodorowsky-reality-dance}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Fred Topel|date=22 May 2013|title=Cannes Roundtable: Alejandro Jodorowsky on La Danza de la Realidad|url=http://m.craveonline.com/film/interviews/504843-cannes-roundtable-alejandro-jodorowsky-on-la-danza-de-la-realidad|publisher=M.craveonline.com}}</ref>

In 2015, Jodorowsky began a new film entitled ''[[Endless Poetry]]'', the sequel to his last "auto-biopic", ''The Dance of Reality''. His Paris-based production company, Satori Films, launched two successful [[crowdfunding]] campaigns to finance the film. The Indiegogo campaign has been left open indefinitely, receiving donations from fans and movie-goers in support of the independent production.<ref name="Indiegogo">{{cite web|url=https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/alejandro-jodorowsky-endless-poetry|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky - Endless Poetry|website=[[Indiegogo]]}}</ref> The film was shot between June and August 2015, in the streets of [[Centro Cultural Matucana 100|Matucana]] in Santiago, Chile, where Jodorowsky lived for a period in his life.<ref name="kickstarter.com">{{Cite web|title=Jodorowsky's new film ENDLESS POETRY(Poesía Sin Fin)|url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/276667448/jodorowskys-new-film-endless-poetrypoesia-sin-fin/posts/1146266|access-date=10 June 2016|publisher=[[Kickstarter]]}}</ref> The film portrays his young adulthood in Santiago, years during which he became a core member of the Chilean poetic avant-garde alongside artists such as [[Hugo Marín]], [[Gustavo Becerra]], [[Enrique Lihn]], [[Stella Díaz Varín]], [[Nicanor Parra]] and others.<ref>{{Cite web|last=UPLINK|date=15 February 2015|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky's special message on KICKSTARTER – Feb 15 2015|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRuJlHp0PB0|access-date=12 February 2018|via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky – Endless Poetry|url=http://www.poesiasinfin.com|access-date=12 February 2018|website=Alejandro Jodorowsky – Endless Poetry}}</ref> Jodorowsky's son [[Adan Jodorowsky]] plays him as an adult; and [[Brontis Jodorowsky]] plays as his father, Jaime. [[Jeremias Herskovitz]], from ''[[The Dance of Reality]]'', portrays Jodorowsky as a teenager.<ref name="kickstarter.com"/> [[Pamela Flores]] plays as Sara (his mother) and Stella Díaz Varín (poet and young Jodorowsky's girlfriend). [[Leandro Taub]] portrays Jodorowsky's best friend, the poet and novelist Enrique Lihn.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Boyd van Hoeij|date=14 May 2016|title='Endless Poetry' ('Poesia sin fin'): Cannes Review|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/endless-poetry-poesia-sin-fin-893999/|access-date=28 March 2019|work=Hollywood Reporter}}</ref> The film premiered in the [[Directors' Fortnight]] section of the [[2016 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes Film Festival]] on 14 May 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Poesía Sin Fin &#124; La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs|url=http://www.quinzaine-realisateurs.com/qz_film/poesia-sin-fin/|access-date=9 December 2016|publisher=Quinzaine-realisateurs.com}}</ref> [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'s review was overwhelmingly positive, calling it "...the most accessible movie he has ever made, and it may also be the best."<ref>{{Cite web|author=Owen Gleiberman|date=14 May 2016|title='Endless Poetry' Review – Cannes Film Festival 2016|url=https://variety.com/2016/film/festivals/cannes-film-review-jodorowsky-endless-poetry-1201774470/|access-date=9 December 2016|work=Variety}}</ref>

During an interview at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, Jodorowsky announced his plans to finally make ''[[Abel Cain|The Son of El Topo]]'' as soon as financial backing is obtained.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Skinner |first=Craig |date=2016-05-15 |title=The Son of El Topo or A Sensual Travel to be Alejandro Jodorowsky's next film after Endless Poetry (Cannes Film Festival Breaking News) |url=https://www.flickreel.com:443/the-son-of-el-topo-or-a-sensual-travel-to-be-alejandro-jodorowskys-next-film-after-endless-poetry/ |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=Flickreel |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Other work==
Jodorowsky released a 12" vinyl with the Original Soundtrack of Zarathustra (Discos Tizoc, Mexico, 1970).<ref>{{Cite web|date=9 June 2016|title='Zarathustra,' the avant-folk soundtrack to Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1970 Nietzsche adaptation|url=https://dangerousminds.net/comments/zaratustra_the_avant_folk_soundtrack_to_alejandro_jodorowskys_1970_nietzsch|access-date=2 September 2019|website=Dangerous Minds}}</ref>

===Comics===
{{BLP sources section|date=March 2018}}
{{stack|[[File:Alejandro Jodorowsky 20080706 Japan Expo 04.jpg|thumb|Jodorowsky at the 2008 Japan Expo in Paris]]}}
Jodorowsky started his comic career in Mexico with the creation of ''[[Anibal 5]]'' series in mid-1966 with illustrations by [[Manuel Moro]]. He also drew his own comic strip in the weekly series ''Fabulas pánicas'' that appeared in the Mexican newspaper, ''[[El Heraldo de México]]''. He also wrote original stories for at least two or three other comic books in Mexico during those days: ''[[Los insoportables Borbolla]]'' was one of them. After his fourth film, ''[[Tusk (1980 film)|Tusk]]'', he started ''[[The Incal]]'', with [[Jean Giraud]] (Mœbius). This [[graphic novel]] has its roots deep in the tarot and its symbols, e.g., the protagonist of ''The Incal'', [[John Difool]], is linked to the [[The Fool (Zero)|Fool card]]. ''The Incal'' (which would branch off into a prequel and sequel) forms the first in a sequence of several science fiction comic book series, all set in the same [[space opera]] [[Jodoverse]] (or "Metabarons Universe") published by [[Humanoids Publishing]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=18 September 2014|title=The Comics Universe of Alejandro Jodorowsky|url=https://www.tomlennon.com/comics-universe-alejandro-jodorowsky/|access-date=2 September 2019|website=Tom Lennon}}</ref>

Comic books set in this milieu are Incal (trilogy: ''[[Before the Incal]] / [[Incal]] / [[Final Incal]]''), [[Metabarons]] (trilogy: ''[[Castaka]] / [[The Caste of the Metabarons]] / Weapons of the Metabaron''), and ''[[Technopriests|The Technopriests]]'' and also an [[tabletop roleplaying game|RPG adaptation]], ''[[Metabarons Roleplaying Game|The Metabarons Roleplaying Game]]''. Many ideas and concepts derived from Jodorowsky's planned adaptation of ''[[Dune (novel)|Dune]]'' (which he would have loosely based upon [[Frank Herbert]]'s original novel) are featured in this universe.

Mœbius and Jodorowsky sued [[Luc Besson]], director of ''[[The Fifth Element]]'', claiming that the 1997 film borrowed graphic and story elements from ''[[The Incal]]'', but they lost their case.<ref>{{Cite web|date=28 May 2004|title=Mœbius perd son procès contre Besson|url=http://www.toutenbd.com/article.php3?id_article=697|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028025038/http://www.toutenbd.com/article.php3?id_article=697|archive-date=28 October 2014|access-date=20 January 2007|work=ToutenBD.com|language=fr|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The suit was plagued by ambiguity since Mœbius had willingly participated in the creation of the film, having been hired by Besson as a contributing artist, but had done so without gaining the approval of ''Incal'' co-creator Jodorowsky, whose services Besson did not call upon. For more than a decade, Jodorowsky pressured his publisher [[Les Humanoïdes Associés]] to sue Luc Besson for [[plagiarism]], but the publisher refused, fearing the inevitability of the outcome. In a 2002 interview with the Danish comic book magazine ''Strip!'', Jodorowsky stated that he considered it an honour that somebody stole his ideas.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

Other comics by Jodorowsky include the Western ''Bouncer'' illustrated by [[Francois Boucq]], ''Juan Solo'' (''Son of the Gun''), and ''Le Lama blanc'' (''The White Lama''), the latter were illustrated by [[Georges Bess]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky and The Art of Transformation|url=https://comicsalliance.com/tribute-alejandro-jodorowsky/|access-date=2 September 2019|website=Comics Alliance|date=17 February 2016 }}</ref>

''Le Cœur couronné'' (''The Crowned Heart'', translated into English as ''The Madwoman of the Sacred Heart''), a racy satire on religion set in contemporary times, won Jodorowsky and his collaborator, [[Jean Giraud]], the 2001 [[Haxtur Award]] for Best Long Strip.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jean Henri Gaston Giraud - 'Moebius'|url=http://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=1558|access-date=2 September 2019|website=Comic Book DB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Haxtur Award|url=https://www.librarything.com/bookaward/Haxtur+Award|access-date=2 September 2019|website=LibraryThing}}</ref> He is currently working on a new graphic novel for the U.S. market.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

Jodorowsky's comic book work also appears in ''[[Taboo (comic)|Taboo]]'' volume 4 (ed. [[Stephen R. Bissette]]), which features an interview with the director, designs for his version of Frank Herbert's ''Dune'', comic storyboards for ''El Topo'', and a collaboration with Moebius with the illustrated ''Eyes of the Cat''.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

Jodorowsky collaborated with [[Milo Manara]] in ''Borgia'' (2006), a graphic novel about the history of the [[House of Borgia]].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Fierro|first1=Lily|date=13 November 2014|title=THE BORGIAS By Alejandro Jodorowsky and Milo Manara|url=https://www.forcesofgeek.com/2014/11/the-borgias-by-alejandro-jodorowsky-and.html|access-date=2 September 2019|website=Forces of Geek}}</ref>

===Psychomagic===
{{BLP sources section|date=July 2017}}
Jodorowsky spent almost a decade reconstructing the original form of the [[Tarot of Marseilles|Tarot de Marseille]].<ref name="TarotNYT" /> From this work he moved into more therapeutic work in three areas: psychomagic, [[psychogenealogy]] and [[initiatic massage]]. Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which practitioners of the therapy believe are passed down from generation to generation. Psychogenealogy includes the studying of the patient's personality and family tree in order to best address their specific sources. It is similar, in its phenomenological approach to genealogy, to the [[Family Constellations|Constellations]] pioneered by Bert Hellinger.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Lattanzio|first1=Ryan|date=2020-06-16|title='Psychomagic, a Healing Art' Trailer: Alejandro Jodorowsky Explores the Wild World of Trauma Therapy|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2020/06/psychomagic-a-healing-art-trailer-alejandro-jodorowsky-1202237747/|access-date=2020-07-16|website=IndieWire|language=en}}</ref>

Jodorowsky has several books on his therapeutic methods, including ''Psicomagia: La trampa sagrada'' (''Psychomagic: The Sacred Trap'') and his autobiography, ''La danza de la realidad'' (''[[The Dance of Reality]]''), which he was filming as a feature-length film in March 2012. To date, he has published more than 23 novels and philosophical treatises, along with dozens of articles and interviews. His books are widely read in Spanish and French, but are for the most part unknown to English-speaking audiences.

For a quarter of a century, Jodorowsky held classes and lectures for free, in cafés and universities all over the city of Paris. Typically, such courses or talks would begin on Wednesday evenings as [[tarot divination]] lessons, and would culminate in an hour-long conference, also free, where at times hundreds of attendees would be treated to live demonstrations of a psychological "arbre généalogique" ("tree of genealogy") involving volunteers from the audience. In these conferences, Jodorowsky would pave the way to building a strong base of students of his philosophy, which deals with understanding the [[unconscious mind|unconscious]] as the "over-self", composed of many generations of family relatives, living or deceased, acting on the [[psyche (psychology)|psyche]], well into adult lives, and causing [[Compulsive behavior|compulsion]]s. Of all his work, Jodorowsky considers these activities to be the most important of his life. Though such activities only take place in the insular world of [[Parisian café]]s, he has devoted thousands of hours of his life to teaching and helping people "become more conscious," as he puts it.

Since 2011 these talks have dwindled to once a month and take place at the [[Librairie Les Cent Ciels]] in Paris.

His film ''Psychomagic, a Healing Art'' premiered in Lyon on 3 September 2019. It was then released on streaming services on 1 August 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-13|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky announces new film Psychomagic, a Healing Art|url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/06/alejandro-jodorowsky-new-film-psychomagic-a-healing-art-alamo-on-demand/|access-date=2020-07-16|website=Consequence of Sound|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Influences and impact==

He has cited the filmmaker [[Federico Fellini]] as his primary cinematic influence;{{sfn|Jodorowsky|2005|p=232}} other artistic influences included [[Jean-Luc Godard]],<ref name=Tomasulo>{{cite journal |author1=Frank P. Tomasulo |title=Independent Cinema: El Topo and the Midnight Movie Craze |url=https://www.academia.edu/41830352 |journal=Projections |date=January 2018 |publisher=Academia |access-date=15 September 2022 |quote=Jodorowsky himself stated that "El Topo is a library...of all the books I love. He also acknowledged the influence of Jean-Luc Godard, Luis Buñuel, Sergio Leone, Erich von Stroheim, and Buster Keaton.}}</ref> [[Sergio Leone]],<ref name="Tomasulo" /> [[Erich von Stroheim]],<ref name="Tomasulo" /> [[Buster Keaton]],<ref name="Tomasulo" /> [[George Gurdjieff]], [[Antonin Artaud]],<ref name="books.google.com">{{Cite book |last=Cobb |first=Ben |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nDcdAQAAIAAJ&q= |title=Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky |date=2007 |publisher=Creation |isbn=978-1-84068-145-1 |pages=34 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Luis Buñuel]].<ref name="The World in a Frame">Leo Braudy, [https://books.google.com/books?id=nnvaIPdWCOYC&dq= ''The World in a Frame''], University of Chicago Press, 2002, p. 73.</ref> He has been described as an influence on such figures as [[Marilyn Manson]],{{sfn|Jodorowsky|2005|pp=236–237}} [[Darren Aronofsky]],<ref>{{cite web |author1=Michael Idov |title=Pi in the Sky |url=https://nymag.com/movies/features/24368/index3.html |website=New York Magazine |publisher=Vox Media, LLC. |access-date=22 September 2022 |date=November 16, 2006}}</ref> [[Taika Waititi]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Humanoids Taps Taika Waititi to Turn 'The Incal' Into a Feature Film |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=3488 |website=Publishers Weekly |publisher=PWxyz, LLC. |access-date=22 September 2022 |date=November 4, 2021 |quote=Waititi said, “the films and graphic novels of Alejandro Jodorowsky have influenced me and so many others for so long. I was stunned to be given the opportunity to bring his iconic characters to life and I am grateful to Alejandro, Fabrice and everyone at Humanoids for trusting me to do so.”}}</ref> [[Guillermo del Toro]],<ref>{{cite book |author1=Ian Nathan |title=Guillermo Del Toro - The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work |date=November 9, 2021 |publisher=White Lion Publishing |isbn=9780711263284 |page=17 |chapter=Once Upon A Time In Mexico |quote=Like his demonstrative contemporary Quentin Tarantino, del Toro readily anoints the wide range of directors from whom he draws inspiration. Interviews will be happily diverted into discussions of Akira Kurosawa, Stanley Kubrick, David Lean, Ingmar Bergman, or Steven Spielberg. Then, without taking a breath, he’ll swerve into a deconstruction of the extravagant whimsy of Terry Gilliam, the lurid colour schemes of Dario Argento, or the symbolism of Chilean maestro Alejandro Jodorowsky.}}</ref> [[Nicolas Winding Refn]], [[Jan Kounen]], [[Dennis Hopper]], [[Eric Andre]],<ref>{{cite web |author1=Leonie Cooper |title=Eric Andre: "People scream at me on stage to get naked – so I give them what they want" |url=https://www.nme.com/features/tv-interviews/eric-andre-interview-2721686 |website=NME |publisher=NME Networks |access-date=22 September 2022 |date=August 6, 2020}}</ref> the musical duo [[Suicide (band)|Suicide]],<ref>{{cite web |author1=Jonathan Monovich |title=Suicide's Music in Film: An Interview with Martin Rev |url=https://www.popmatters.com/martin-rev-suicide-interview-2023 |website=PopMatters |publisher=PopMatters Media, Inc. |access-date=July 14, 2023 |date=22 March 2023 |quote=Interviewer: "Growing up during a high point in the history of counterculture with shared disapproval of the Vietnam war, was Easy Rider an important film for you and Vega?" Martin Rev: "I’m sure Alan saw that picture. I saw it and certainly related to it as it was very much a part of the times and the war in Vietnam for many years. I think one picture we found closer to what we were feeling and doing at that time was Alejandro Jodorowsky’s El Topo. It came out around the time that we first started. It was maybe within a year of the beginning of Suicide. I think he [Jodorowsky] was feeling a lot of the things that we were feeling. It was in the same kind of spiritual ambiance and extremism. We didn’t see ourselves as being extremists, but the film also showed experimentation and innovation. We didn’t set out to be innovators either, but we set out to do what we felt we needed to do to express ourselves."}}</ref> and [[Kanye West]].<ref name="Damien Love">{{Cite web|author=Damien Love|date=August 2008|title=Bright Lights Film Journal – ''The Mole Man'': Interview with Alejandro Jodorowsky|url=http://brightlightsfilm.com/61/61jodorowskyiv.php|publisher=Brightlightsfilm.com}}</ref>

Fans included musicians [[Peter Gabriel]], [[Cedric Bixler-Zavala]] and [[Omar Rodríguez-López]] of [[The Mars Volta]],<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Johnson|first=Jeremy Robert|date=August 2006|title=Interview: Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta|url=https://verbicidemagazine.com/interview-cedric-bixler-zavala-of-the-mars-volta/|location=New Haven, CT|publisher=Scissor Press|access-date=11 June 2025|publication-date=7 November 2006|quote=We're always talking about how we want our songs to look like Jodorowsky's movies. That's always our goal.|magazine=Verbicide}}</ref> [[Brann Dailor]] of [[Mastodon (band)|Mastodon]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Worley|first=Gail|date=4 February 2008|title=An Interview with Brann Dailor of Mastodon|url=http://ink19.com/2008/02/magazine/interviews/an-interview-with-brann-dailor-of-mastodon|access-date=8 February 2017|website=Ink19.com}}</ref> [[Luke Steele (musician)|Luke Steele]] and [[Nick Littlemore]] (of the pop-duo [[Empire of the Sun (band)|Empire of the Sun]]).<ref name="empire-oct-09"/> [[Wes Borland]], guitarist of [[Limp Bizkit]], said that the film ''Holy Mountain'' was a big influence on him, especially as a visual artist, and that the concept album ''Lotus Island'' of his band [[Black Light Burns]] was a tribute to it.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Casper|first=Pete|date=1 February 2013|title=Wes Borland / Black Light Burns / Limp Bizkit / No solo|url=https://entertaimnet.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/wes-borland-black-light-burns-limp-bizkit-no-solo/|access-date=8 February 2017|website=entertaim.net}}</ref> [[Lady Gaga]] was influenced by Jodorowsky and ''The Holy Mountain'' in the video for her song [[911 (Lady Gaga song)|911]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/1022/alejandro-jodorowsky-on-lady-gaga-surrealism | title=Alejandro Jodorowsky on Lady Gaga & Surrealism | date=13 April 2011 }}</ref>

Danish director [[Nicolas Winding Refn]] thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in the ending titles of his 2011 film ''[[Drive (2011 film)|Drive]],'' and dedicated his 2013 Thai crime thriller,<ref name="NY TIMES">{{Cite news|last=Lim|first=Dennis|date=22 May 2011|title=Cannes Q. and A.: Driving in a Noir L.A.|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/cannes-q-and-a-driving-in-a-noir-l-a/ |url-status=live |access-date=31 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513061341/http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/cannes-q-and-a-driving-in-a-noir-l-a/|archive-date=13 May 2013|quote=The film is dedicated to [Alejandro] Jodorowsky ... and there's a bit of Jodorowsky existentialism.}}</ref> ''[[Only God Forgives]]'', to Jodorowsky.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Patterson|first=John|date=27 July 2013|title=''Only God Forgives'' this level of tedium|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|location=Kings Place|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jul/29/patterson-only-god-forgives|access-date=30 July 2013}}</ref> Jodorowsky also appeared in the documentary [[Nicolas Winding Refn#Personal life|''My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn'']], directed by Refn's wife [[Liv Corfixen|Liv]], giving the couple a tarot reading.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Debruge|first=Peter|date=26 February 2015|title=Film Review: 'My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn'|work=Variety|url=https://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/film-review-my-life-directed-by-nicolas-winding-refn-1201442539/|access-date=11 June 2017}}</ref>

Jodorowsky has influenced the poetic work of his friend [[Diego Moldes]], in two books: ''Ni un día sin poesía'' (''Not One Day Without Poetry'', Madrid, 2018), with a prologue by Alejandro Jodorowsky and in ''Ni una poesía sin día-Not a Poem Without a Day'' (New York, 2023).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moldes |first1=Diego |title=Cinco poemas de Ni un día sin poesía, de Diego Moldes |url=https://www.zendalibros.com/cinco-poemas-dia-sin-poesia-diego-moldes/ |website=Zenda Libros |date=26 July 2018 |access-date=19 October 2024 |ref=July 27, 2018}}</ref>

Argentinean actor [[Leandro Taub]] thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in his book ''La Mente Oculta'', for which Jodorowsky wrote the prologue.<ref>{{Cite web|title=La Mente Oculta "The Hidden Mind"|url=http://www.milenio.com/cultura/leandro-taub-ofrece-un-taller-de-autoconocimiento|website=milenio.com|date=14 March 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky llegará al Louvre|url=https://www.publimetro.com.mx/mx/entretenimiento/2016/06/06/alejandro-jodorowsky-llegara-louvre.html|website=publimetro.com.mx|date=6 June 2016 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Jodorowsky holds both Chilean and French citizenship.<ref>{{cite interview |title=Alejandro Jodorowsky: «Me parece una aberración ser de un partido político» |url=https://www.larazon.es/cultura/alejandro-jodorowsky-parece-aberracion-ser-partido-politico_2024053066577f86f4db140001fd85f9.html |newspaper=[[La Razón (Madrid)]] |date=20 May 2024 |language=es-es |interviewer-last=Ors |interviewer-first=Javier |access-date=11 July 2024}}</ref> His first wife was the actress Valérie Trumblay. They had three sons: Teo, Axel "Cristobal", and Adan. They divorced in 1982.{{sfn|Jodorowsky|2005|p=235}} He is currently married to the artist and costume designer Pascale Montandon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Family &#124; Alejandro Jodorowsky |url=http://www.alejandro-jodorowsky.de/leben/familie.html |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904231718/http://www.alejandro-jodorowsky.de/leben/familie.html |archive-date=September 4, 2009 |language=de}}</ref>

He had five children. 
*[[Brontis Jodorowsky]] (b. 1962), an actor who worked with his father in ''El Topo'', ''The Dance of Reality'' and ''Endless Poetry'', is the child of Jodorowsky and Bernadette Landru. Brontis has a child, the fashion model [[Alma Jodorowsky]], who is the granddaughter of Alejandro.<ref>{{Cite news|date=5 February 2012|title=Where To Meet: Alma Jodorowsky|newspaper=Ten Days in Paris|url=http://www.tendaysinparis.com/where-to-meet-alma-jodorowsky-9878.html|access-date=19 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cánovas Emhart|first1=Rodrigo|last2=Scherman Filer|first2=Jorge|date=2007|title=Challenges in the genealogy of memory of fin secular Jewish-Chilean narrative|journal=Acta Literaria|issue=34|pages=9–30|doi=10.4067/S0717-68482007000100002|doi-broken-date=11 April 2025 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
*Teo (d. 1995), who appeared in ''Santa Sangre'', was the eldest child of Jodorowsky and Valérie Trumblay.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EyN: "Perder un hijo me cambió la vida" |url=http://www.economiaynegocios.cl/noticias/noticias.asp?id=255746 |access-date=2022-09-16 |website=www.economiaynegocios.cl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Benson|first=Eric|date=14 March 2014|title=The Psychomagical Realism of Alejandro Jodorowsky|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/magazine/the-psychomagical-realism-of-alejandro-jodorowsky.html|access-date=12 February 2018|work=The New York Times}}</ref>
*[[Axel Jodorowsky|Axel Cristóbal]] (b. 1965, d. 2022),<ref>{{Cite web |last=S.A.P |first=El Mercurio |date=2022-09-15 |title=A los 57 años fallece el poeta y artista Cristóbal Jodorowsky, hijo del cineasta Alejandro Jodorowsky {{!}} Emol.com |url=https://www.emol.com/noticias/Espectaculos/2022/09/15/1073069/fallece-poeta-cristobal-jodorowsky.html |access-date=2022-09-16 |website=Emol |language=Spanish}}</ref> a psychoshaman and an actor (interpreter in ''Santa Sangre'' and the main character in the shamanic documentary ''Quantum Men''), was the second child of Jodorowsky and Valérie Trumblay.
*Eugenia Jodorowsky, Jodorowsky's fourth child, is the child of Jodorowsky and an unknown mother.
*[[Adan Jodorowsky]] (b. 1979), a musician known by his stage name of Adanowsky,  was the third child of Jodorowsky and Valérie Trumblay, and Jodorowsky's fifth child overall.

On his religious views, Jodorowsky has called himself an "[[atheist]] [[Mysticism|mystic]]".<ref>{{Cite web|author=David Church|date=February 2007|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky|url=http://sensesofcinema.com/2007/great-directors/jodorowsky/#b23|access-date=13 October 2013|work=Senses of Cinema|quote=However, while Buñuel's attacks on religion are primarily confined to Catholicism, Jodorowsky not only violates but de-centres Western religious traditions by creating a hybrid amalgamation of Western, non-Western and occult beliefs. A self-described "atheist mystic", he has claimed to hate religion (for it "is killing the planet"), but he loves mysticism and occult practices like alchemy.}}</ref>

He does not drink or smoke,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Belinchón|first=Gregorio|date=31 May 2013|title=El psicomago se cuenta a sí mismo|trans-title=The psychomagician talks about himself|url=http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2013/05/30/actualidad/1369942839_419557.html|journal=[[El País]]|language=es|location=Madrid}}</ref> and has stated that he does not eat red meat or poultry because he "does not like corpses", basing his diet on vegetables, fruits, grains and occasionally marine products.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jodorowsky|first=Alejandro|date=23 July 2015|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky|url=https://twitter.com/alejodorowsky/status/624278853129740289|access-date=10 June 2016|website=Twitter|quote=No como carne... Ensaladas, verduras, cereales, nueces, frutas... A veces, cuando mi cuerpo me lo pide como camarones...}}{{Primary source inline|date=July 2018}}</ref>

In 2005, Jodorowsky officiated at the wedding of [[Marilyn Manson]] and [[Dita Von Teese]].<ref name="empire-oct-09"/>

==Criticism and controversy==
When Jodorowsky's first feature film, ''Fando y Lis'', premiered at the 1968 [[Acapulco]] Film Festival, the screening was controversial and erupted into a riot, due to its graphic content.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Gregor|first1=Alex|title=The Road To Tar: Memory, Desire, & The Mouvement Panique in Jodorowsky's Fando Y Lis|url=http://thefanzine.com/the-road-to-tar-memory-desire-the-mouvement-panique-in-jodorowskys-fando-y-lis-1968-by-alex-gregor/|access-date=2 September 2019|website=Fanzine}}</ref> Jodorowsky had to leave the theatre by sneaking outside to a waiting limousine, and when the crowd outside the theatre recognized him, the car was pelted with rocks.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Espiritu|first1=Gabe|title=Legendary Chilean director's banned film resurrects after years of abandonment|url=https://dailytitan.com/2016/04/legendary-chilean-directors-banned-film-resurrects-after-years-of-abandonment/|access-date=2 September 2019|website=Daily Titan|date=3 April 2016 }}</ref> The following week, the film opened to sell-out crowds in [[Mexico City]], but more fights broke out, and the film was banned by the Mexican government.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Asher-Perrin|first1=Emmet|date=2 May 2017|title=Jodorowsky's Dune Didn't Get Made for a Reason… and We Should All Be Grateful For That|url=https://www.tor.com/2017/05/02/jodorowskys-dune-didnt-get-made-for-a-reason-and-we-should-all-be-grateful/|website=Tor.com}}</ref> Jodorowsky himself was nearly deported and the controversy provided a great deal of fodder for the Mexican newspapers.<ref>{{Cite web|date=15 June 2017|title=Fando Y Lis|url=https://www.roxie.com/ai1ec_event/fando-y-lis/|website=Roxie}}</ref>

In regard to the making of ''El Topo'', Jodorowsky allegedly stated in the early 1970s:<ref name="Crouse2010">{{Cite book|author=Richard Crouse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B5alnowvF3sC&pg=PT111|title=Son of the 100 Best Movies You've Never Seen|date=15 December 2010|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55490-330-6|pages=111–}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=When I wanted to do the rape scene, I explained to [Mara Lorenzio] that I was going to hit her and rape her. There was no emotional relationship between us, because I had put a clause in all the women's contracts stating that they would not make love with the director. We had never talked to each other. I knew nothing about her. We went to the desert with two other people: the photographer and a technician. No one else. I said, 'I'm not going to rehearse. There will be only one take because it will be impossible to repeat. Roll the cameras only when I signal you to.' Then I told her, 'Pain does not hurt. Hit me.' And she hit me. I said, 'Harder.' And she started to hit me very hard, hard enough to break a rib...I ached for a week. After she had hit me long enough and hard enough to tire her, I said, 'Now it's my turn. Roll the cameras.' And I really...I really...I really raped her. And she screamed ... Then she told me that she had been raped before. You see, for me the character is frigid until El Topo rapes her. And she has an orgasm. That's why I show a stone phallus in that scene ... which spouts water. She has an orgasm. She accepts the male sex. And that's what happened to Mara in reality. She really had that problem. Fantastic scene. A very, very strong scene.}}

In the documentary ''[[Jodorowsky's Dune]]'', Jodorowsky states:<ref>{{Cite web|author=Daniel Spicer|date=August 2015|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky: never belonging|url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/columns/alejandro-jodorowsky-38280|access-date=13 July 2017|work=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=When you make a picture, you must not respect the novel. It's like getting married ... if you respect the woman, you will never have child. You need to open the costume and to rape the bride – and then you will have your picture. I was raping Frank Herbert ... but with love.}}

Jodorowsky was criticised for these statements.<ref name="tor">{{Cite web|author=Emmet Asher-Perrin|date=2 May 2017|title=Jodorowsky's Dune Didn't Get Made for a Reason... and We Should All Be Grateful For That|url=http://www.tor.com/2017/05/02/jodorowskys-dune-didnt-get-made-for-a-reason-and-we-should-all-be-grateful/|access-date=13 July 2017|website=Tor.com}}</ref><ref name="screenanarchy">{{Cite web|author=Matt Brown|date=5 December 2016|title=Destroy All Monsters: We're Bad at Confronting News Like The Bertolucci News|url=http://screenanarchy.com/2016/12/destroy-all-monsters-were-bad-at-confronting-news-like-the-bertolucci-news.html|access-date=13 July 2017|website=[[Screen Anarchy]]}}</ref> Matt Brown of [[Screen Anarchy]] wrote that "it's easier to wall off a certain type of criminality behind the buffer of time—sure, Alejandro Jodorowsky is on the record in his book on the making of the film as having raped Mara Lorenzo while making El Topo—though he later denied it—but nowadays he's just that hilarious old kook from Jodorowsky's Dune!"<ref name="screenanarchy" /> Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com called Jodorowsky "an artist who condones rape as a means to an end for the purpose of creating art. A man who seems to believe that rape is something that women 'need' if they can't accept male sexual power on their own".<ref name="tor" /> [[Jude Doyle]] of ''[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]]'' wrote that Jodorowsky "has been teasing the idea of an unsimulated rape scene in his cult classic film ''El Topo'' for decades ... though he's elsewhere described the unsimulated sex in that scene as consensual", and went on to state that the quote "has not endangered his status as an avant-garde icon".<ref>{{Cite web|author=Sady Doyle|date=8 December 2016|title=Bertolucci Wasn't the First Man to Abuse a Woman and Call It Art and He Won't Be the Last|url=http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a41293/bertolucci-abuse-art/|access-date=13 July 2017|work=[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]]}}</ref>

On 26 June 2017, Jodorowsky released a statement<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alejandro Jodorowsky |url=https://www.facebook.com/323777330058/posts/yo-alejandro-jodorowsky-durante-la-filmaci%C3%B3n-de-una-escena-de-el-topo-viol%C3%A9-a-un/10154430271880059/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20181017002149/https://www.facebook.com/323777330058/posts/yo-alejandro-jodorowsky-durante-la-filmaci%C3%B3n-de-una-escena-de-el-topo-viol%C3%A9-a-un/10154430271880059/ |archive-date=2018-10-17 |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=www.facebook.com |language=es}}</ref> on his [[Facebook]] account in response to the question: "Did you rape an actress during the filming of ''El Topo''?" The following excerpts are from said statement:{{Where|date=August 2021}}

{{Blockquote|text=Where did [the people claiming that I raped Mara Lorenzio on the set of ''El Topo'' in front of the camera] find reports of this alleged incident that would have happened in 1969?

It's very possible that they read some of the interviews I did in the United States or England back then. I produced ''El Topo'' independently. When I told the Mexican film industry that I was going to travel to New York to sell ''El Topo'', they made fun of me. "You're crazy, only [[Emilio Fernandez]] ('El Indio') has ever managed to release a movie there and that's why there is a statue of him. No Mexican film has ever crossed the cactus wall." In the North American cinematographic environment of the time, Mexican cinema was despised. Hollywood dominated everything.

I had to break through using the only tool I had: shock through scandalous statements. This is how I did it: I dressed up as the mystical bandit character [the titular El Topo], I introduced myself in the interviews with a beard, a mane and a black leather suit, and I said things that purposefully shocked the interviewers. "I am an anti-feminist, I hate women. I hate cats. I've eaten human meat tacos with [[Diego Rivera]]. ''El Topo'' is a film where things really happened: that scene of rape is a real rape! I killed the animals (that in reality I had purchased dead from a local zoo) with a fork I sharpened myself!" These aggressive, meant to be humorous declarations conquered the era's young public who were against the establishment and affected by the Vietnam war. This is how I managed to get ''El Topo'' to be noticed and seen, and, thanks to the openly proclaimed admiration of [[John Lennon]] and [[Yoko Ono]], my film became a cult classic. Half a century has passed and it continues to be screened and discussed.</blockquote>

Jodorowsky also offered details in that same statement on the filming of the so-called "rape scene", proclaiming that it would be impossible to commit such a crime on a large movie set:

<blockquote>Filming a scene like this is not achieved with just a cameraman, two actors and an expanse of sand. Cinema is the most costly art because a large number of technicians and artists are required to execute it. First of all, you needed a group of workers to clean a hundred square meters of desert with rakes because of dangerous snakes and spiders that were hidden in the sand. They remained for the duration of the filming, at the ready, to intervene if necessary. There was also a group of makeup artists, hairdressers and dressmakers in charge of costumes.

[In the movie,] El Topo rips apart the woman's dress in a take that lasts 10 seconds.

It is followed by another take of El Topo [doing the same], but from a different angle.  Filming stopped for half an hour or so for the technicians to change the reflectors. That is to say that in order to shoot an action sequence that does not even last more than three minutes, several hours were needed. And it wasn't just a single cameraman, but two cameras, each with one operator and four assistants. A total of 10 camera people. Added to this were crewmen placing rails where the camera slid, handling the counterweights of a crane, holding silver reflector cards so that each face is well-lit. There was also the assistant director, the group of set decorators, other actors, etc. A big crowd that the audience does not see.&nbsp;In addition, there were people holding the individual umbrellas protecting the actors from the sun, others that delivered water and food, etc.

How could I have possibly assaulted the actress in front of such a large assembly of people? &nbsp;&nbsp;
At the slightest hint of any actual violence, a group of men and women would have thrown themselves at me and immobilized me. The actress would have also been defending herself, howling, scratching. And I, vile satyr, would have ended up persecuted, tried and imprisoned.}}

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Title
!width=65|Director
!width=65|Writer
!width=65|Producer
!Notes
|-
|1957
|''[[La cravate]]''
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|Short film
|-
|1968
|''[[Fando y Lis]]''
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|{{No}}
|
|-
|1970
|''[[El Topo]]''
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|{{No}}
| rowspan="2" |Also composer, costume, and production designer
|-
|1973
|''[[The Holy Mountain (1973 film)|The Holy Mountain]]''
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|-
|1980
|''[[Tusk (1980 film)|Tusk]]''
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|{{No}}
|
|-
|1989
|''[[Santa Sangre]]''
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|{{No}}
|
|-
|1990
|''[[The Rainbow Thief]]''
|{{Yes}}
|{{No}}
|{{No}}
|
|-
|2013
|''[[The Dance of Reality]]''
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|
|-
|2016
|''[[Endless Poetry]]''
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|
|-
|2019
|''Psychomagic, a Healing Art''
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|{{Yes}}
|Documentary
|}

'''Acting roles'''
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|1957
|''[[La cravate]]''
|Himself
|Short film
|-
|1968
|''[[Fando y Lis]]''
|Puppeteer
|
|-
|1970
|''[[El Topo]]''
|El Topo
|
|-
|1973
|''[[The Holy Mountain (1973 film)|The Holy Mountain]]''
|The Alchemist
|
|-
|2002
|''Cherif''
|Prophet
|
|-
|2002
|''Psicotaxi''
|Himself
|Short film
|-
|2003
|''No Big Deal''
|Pablo, le père
|
|-
|2006
|''Musikanten''
|[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]
|
|-
|2007
|''Nothing Is as It Seems''
|Unnamed character
|
|-
|2011
|''[[The Island (2011 film)|The Island]]''
|Jodo
|
|-
|rowspan="2" | 2013
|''Ritual: A Psychomagic Story''
|Fernando
|
|-
|''[[The Dance of Reality]]''
|rowspan=2|Old Alejandro
|
|-
|2016
|''[[Endless Poetry]]''
|
|-
|}

'''Documentary appearances'''
* ''[[Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only]]'' (1991) 
* ''The Jodorowsky Constellation'' (1994)
* ''NWR'' (2012)
* ''[[Jodorowsky's Dune]]'' (2013)
* ''[[My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn]]'' (2015)
* ''Psychomagic, a Healing Art'' (2019)

==Bibliography==
Selected bibliography of comics, novels and non-fiction writings:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bedetheque.com/auteur-89-BD-Jodorowsky-Alexandro.html|title=Jodorowsky, Alejandro - Bibliographie, BD, photo, biographie|first=Philippe|last=MAGNERON|website=www.bedetheque.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/31779.Alejandro_Jodorowsky|title=Alejandro Jodorowsky|website=www.goodreads.com}}</ref>

===Graphic novels and comics===
* ''The Panic Fables'' ({{Langx|es|Fabulas panicas}}; 1967–1970), comic strip published in ''El Heraldo de México''.
* ''The Eyes of the Cat'' (1978)
* ''The Jealous God'' (1984)
* ''The Magical Twins'' (1987)
* ''Anibal 5'' (1990)
* ''Diosamante'' (1992)
* ''Moonface'' (1992)
* ''Angel Claws'' (1994)
* ''Son of the Gun'' (1995)
* ''Madwoman of the Sacred Heart'' (1998)
* ''The Shadow's Treasure'' (1999)
* ''Bouncer'' (2001)
* ''The White Lama'' (2004)
* ''Borgia'' (2004)
* ''Screaming Planet'' (2006)
* ''Le Pape terrible (2009-2019)''
* ''Showman Killer'' (2010)
* ''Pietrolino'' (2013)
* ''Royal Blood'' (2014)
* ''The Son of El Topo'' (2016–2022)
* ''Knights of Heliopolis'' (2017)

===Jodoverse===
Beginning with ''The Incal'' in 1981, Jodorowsky has co-written and produced a series of linked comics series and graphic novels for the French-language market known colloquially as the [[Jodoverse]]. The series was initially developed with [[Jean Giraud]] using concepts and designs created for Jodorowky's unfinished ''Dune'' project.
* ''[[The Incal]]'' (1981–1988)
* ''Before the Incal'' (1988–1995)
* ''[[The Metabarons]]'' (1992–2003)
* ''[[The Technopriests]]'' (1998–2006)
* ''Megalex'' (1999–2008)
* ''After the Incal'' (2000), incomplete series.
* ''Metabarons Genesis: Castaka'' (2007–2013)
* ''Weapons of the Metabaron'' (2008)
* ''Final Incal'' (2008–2014), revised version of the ''After the Incal'' series with new art and text.
* ''The Metabaron'' (2015–2018)

===Fiction===
Jodorowsky's Spanish-language novels translated into English include:
* ''Where the Bird Sings Best'' (1992)
* ''Albina and the Dog Men'' (1999)
* ''The Son of Black Thursday'' (1999)

===Non-fiction===
* ''Psychomagic'' (1995)
* ''The Dance of Reality'' (2001)
* ''The Way of Tarot'' (2004), with Marianne Costa
* ''The Spiritual Journey'' (2005)
* ''The Manual of Psychomagic'' (2009)
* ''Metageneaology'' (2012), with Marianne Costa
* ''pascALEjandro: Alchemical Androgynous'' (2017), with Pascale Montandon

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==

=== About  Jodorowsky ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book|title=The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Creator of El Topo|
first=Alejandro|last=Jodorowsky|publisher=Simon and Schuster|date=2005|isbn=9781594778810|pages=288}}
* Cobb, Ben (2007). ''Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Persistence of Vision 6)'', ed. Louise Brealey, pref. Alan Jones, int. Stephen Barber. London, April 2007 / New York, August 2007, Creation Books.
* Coillard, Jean-Paul (2009), ''De la cage au grand écran. Entretiens avec Alejandro Jodorowsky'', Paris. K-Inite Editions.
* Chignoli, Andrea (2009), ''Zoom back, Camera! El cine de Alejandro Jodorowsky'', Santiago de Chile, Uqbar Editores.
* Dominguez Aragones, Edmundo (1980). ''Tres extraordinarios: Luis Spota, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Emilio "Indio" Fernández''; Mexicali, Mexico DF, Juan Pablos Editor. P. 109–146.
* Gonzalez, Házael (2011), ''Alejandro Jodorowsky: Danzando con la realidad'', Palma de Mallorca, Dolmen Editorial.
* Larouche, Michel (1985). ''Alexandre Jodorowsky, cinéaste panique'', París, ça cinéma, Albatros.
* [[Diego Moldes|Moldes, Diego]], (2012). ''Alejandro Jodorowsky'', Madrid, Col. Signo e Imagen / Cineastas, Ediciones Cátedra. Prologue by Alejandro Jodorowsky. {{ISBN|978-84-376-3041-0}}
* Monteleone, Massimo (1993). ''La Talpa e la Fenice. Il cinema di Alejandro Jodorowsky'', Bologna, Granata Press.
* {{Cite journal |title=Alejandro Jodorowsky: Reiterating Chaos, Rattling the Cage of Representation |first=Robert |last=Neustadt |journal=Chasqui |volume=26 |issue=1 |date=May 1997 |pages=56–74 |doi=10.2307/29741325 |jstor=29741325}}
{{Refend}}

=== About Jodorowsky's films ===

* Larouche, Michel (1985). ''Alexandre Jodorowsky, cinéaste panique'', París, ça cinéma, Albatros.
* Monteleone, Massimo (1993). ''La Talpa e la Fenice. Il cinema di Alejandro Jodorowsky'', Bologna, Granata Press.
* Cobb, Ben (2007). ''Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Persistence of Vision 6)'', ed. Louise Brealey, pref. Alan Jones, int. Stephen Barber. London, April 2007 / New York, August 2007, Creation Books.
* Coillard, Jean-Paul (2009), ''De la cage au grand écran. Entretiens avec Alejandro Jodorowsky'', Paris. K-Inite Editions.
* Chignoli, Andrea (2009), ''Zoom back, Camera! El cine de Alejandro Jodorowsky'', Santiago de Chile, Uqbar Editores.
* Gonzalez, Házael (2011), ''Alejandro Jodorowsky: Danzando con la realidad'', Palma de Mallorca, Dolmen Editorial.
* [[Diego Moldes|Moldes, Diego]], (2012). ''Alejandro Jodorowsky'', Madrid, Col. Signo e Imagen / Cineastas, Ediciones Cátedra. Prologue by Alejandro Jodorowsky. {{ISBN|978-84-376-3041-0}}
*Cabrejo, José Carlos (2019), ''Jodorowsky El cine como viaje'', Fondo Editorial Universidad de Lima, Lima. {{ISBN|978-99-72-45497-4}}
* Melnyk, George, (2023), ''The Transformative cinema of Alejandro Jodorowsky'', Bloomsbury Academic, London. {{ISBN|978-15-0137-880-5}}
* Newell Witte, Michael (2023), ''ReFocus: The films of Alejandro Jodorowsky'', Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, {{ISBN|978-13-9950-594-9}}
* Egginton, William (2024), ''Alejandro Jodorowsky Filmmaker and Philosopher'', Bloomsbury Academic, London. {{ISBN|978-13-5014-477-4}}.

==External links==
<!-- Per [[WP:ELMINOFFICIAL]], choose one official website only -->
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{facebook|alejandrojodorowsky}}
* {{IMDb name|423524}}
* [http://bdoubliees.com/metalhurlant/auteurs3/jodorowsky.htm Jodorowsky publications in ''Métal Hurlant'']. BDoubliées {{in lang|fr}}
* [http://www.bedetheque.com/auteur-89-BD-Jodorowsky-Alexandro.html Jodorowsky albums]. Bedetheque {{in lang|fr}}
* [http://www.europeancomics.net/index.html?a=a&b=Alexandro_Jodorowsky Jodorowsky publications in English]. Europeancomics.net

{{Alejandro Jodorowsky}}
{{hmcontribs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jodorowsky, Alejandro}}
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