Josef von Sternberg

Famed for his luminous visual style, Josef von Sternberg was an Austrian-American filmmaker born in 1894 in Vienna, Austria. Active during the 1920s to the 1950s, Sternberg primarily directed films in the drama and romance genres, with his most remarkable films being "The Blue Angel," "Shanghai Express," and "Blonde Venus," which were underpinned by his signature use of light and shadows. Although Sternberg never won any awards at major film festivals, his unique authorial style and influence on cinematic expressionism are widely recognized and respected. Sternberg's works, imbued with an undeniable aesthetic richness, speak volumes of a director who was a true visual poet, transforming the silver screen into a canvas of his vivid imaginations.