Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Achievement in Directing for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, and won the Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival for his film Elephant. He lives in Portland, Oregon. His early career was devoted to directing television commercials in the Pacific Northwest. In his films, he has dealt with themes concerning homosexuality and other marginalized subcultures. His filmography as writer and director includes an adaptation of Tom Robbins' novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, which features a diverse cast (Keanu Reeves, Roseanne Barr, Uma Thurman, and k.d. lang, with cameos by William S. Burroughs and Heather Graham, among others); and My Own Private Idaho, also starring Reeves as well as River Phoenix. He wrote the screenplays for most of his early movies, and wrote one novel, Pink. A book of his photography has also been published, called 108 Portraits.
51 directing credits · 53 acting credits
Directing · 51
Good Will Hunting
1997
FEUD
2017
Boss
2011
When We Rise
2017
Dead Man's Wire
2026
Milk
2008
To Each His Own Cinema
2007
Paris Je T'aime
2006
Elephant
2003
Finding Forrester
2000
To Die For
1995
My Own Private Idaho
1991
Psycho
1998
The Sea of Trees
2016
Drugstore Cowboy
1989
Promised Land
2012
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
2018
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
1994
Gerry
2002
Paranoid Park
2007
Restless
2011
Last Days
2005
8
2008
Mala Noche
1987
Cinema16: American Short Films
2006
Killing Gawker
—
My Own Private River
2012
Best of Chris Isaak
2006
The Discipline of D.E.
1982
1/2 of a Telephone Conversation
1973
Ouverture of Something That Never Ended
2020
Psycho Shampoo
1979
Little Johnny
1972
David Bowie: Best of Bowie
2002
Easter
2000
Le Marais
2006
Five Ways to Kill Yourself
1987
Ballad of the Skeletons
1997
Ken Death Gets Out of Jail
1988
Explain it Like I’m Five
—
Flea Sings
1991
Mansion on the Hill
2008
Nightmare Typhoon
—
My New Friend
1987
Thanksgiving Prayer
1991
The Happy Organ
1971
Switzerland
1985
Four Boys in a Volvo
1996
Junior
1988
My Friend
—
De Witt Clinton Choir
2000
Acting · 53
Entourage
2004
Portlandia
2011
The Story of Film: An Odyssey
2011
The Greatest Event in Television History
2012
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
2001
Leçon de Cinéma
2004
Finding Forrester
2000
My Own Private Idaho
1991
Psycho
1998
Drugstore Cowboy
1989
Hi Octane
1994
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
2006
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
2018
The Canyons
2013
Paranoid Park
2007
Zeroville
2019
Last Days
2005
The Trainer
2024
Critic
2008
A Special Day
2012
Nicole Kidman: Eyes Wide Open
2023
Made in the USA
1993
Mala Noche
1987
Illegal Civilization 3
2018
Rescued from the Closet
2001
Psycho Path
2000
Reflecting On A Journey: Good Will Hunting 15 Years Later
2012
Xavier Dolan: Bound to Impossible
2016
The Director's Vision: Hollywood's Best Discuss Their Craft
1998
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
2010
At the Video Store
2019
In the Mood for Doyle
2007
The Making of Drugstore Cowboy
1999
Here’s Looking at You, Boy
2007
About Cinema
2015
Strange Parallel
1998
On the Set of 'Elephant': Rolling Through Time
2004
The Making of Last Days
2004
The Making of ‘My Own Private Idaho’
2005
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Funky Monks
1991
Saltlake Van Sant
2003
I Don't Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman
2015
Guns on the Clackamas
1995
The Advocate for Fagdom
2011
Two Films, One Legacy
2011
Five Ways to Kill Yourself
1987
Making Paranoid Park
2008
Thank You for Supporting the Arts
2018
About Elephant
2003
Ain't It Funny
2017
Nightmare Typhoon
—
Andy by Gus
2023
Junior
1988