Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American filmmaker celebrated for his surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing psychological realism. After studying social anthropology and film at Harvard and directing at the AFI Conservatory, he made his debut with Pi (1998), which won him the Best Director award at Sundance and launched his production company, Protozoa Pictures. He gained major acclaim with The Wrestler (2008), which earned the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and Black Swan (2010), which brought him nominations for the Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe for Best Director. His later works, including the Biblical epic Noah (2014), the polarizing horror Mother! (2017), and the psychological drama The Whale (2022), sparked both praise and controversy, while his latest film is the crime comedy Caught Stealing (2025). With influences ranging from Akira Kurosawa to Satoshi Kon, Aronofsky's career has also included a Primetime Emmy Award, and he grew up in a culturally Jewish household, initially training as a field biologist before turning to cinema.