Jim Jarmusch

Born: January 22 1953
Where: Akron, Ohio, USA

The maverick director's work has cemented his reputation as a permanent fixture on the American independent cinema circuit.

After moving to New York aged 18, Jarmusch studied English at Columbia University before being accepted - without any film experience - at the Tisch School of the Arts.

However, his mother had been a film reviewer for the local Akron newspaper and used to drop her son off at the local cinema for him to see movies.

He used his tuition fees from his final year to finance his first feature Permanent Vacation (1980), which he shot in ten days for $10,000.

In 1980, he then wrote and directed his 30 minute short film New World, which he later expanded to produce the breakthrough feature Stranger Than Paradise (1984).

The film went on to win the Golden Camera award at Cannes, the Best Film award from the National Society of Film Critics and also the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 1985.

Jarmusch describes it as a trilogy alongside Down By Law (1986), a jail-break movie starring Roberto Benigni and Mystery Train (1989), a film which follows a trio of stories about foreigners staying in a Memphis Hotel.

Both films were also nominated for Golden Palms at Cannes while Mystery Train was regarded at Jarmusch's most accessible.

His short film Trailer Night, starring Chloe Sevigny, made up part of Nicolas McClintock's feature length compilation Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002).

Jarmusch directed a music video for Tom Waits, who acted as himself, alongside Iggy Pop, in Coffee And Cigarettes.

He also directed the concert film of Neil Young and Crazy Horse in 1997, The Year Of The Horse.