Takashi Miike

Born: August 1960
Where: Osaka, Japan

Japanese director Miike was propelled into the movie big league by the action film Dead or Alive and the supernatural horror Audition.

A contemporary of such noted film experimentalists as Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man), Miike has been known to churn out four movies a year.

With its quiet menace, Audition double-bluffed viewers as it turned the age-old image of the submissive Japanese female on its head with a shocking finale that had many viewers shell-shocked.

A keen motorcycle racer in his youth, his love of film prompted him to study at the Yokohama Academy of Visual Arts.

Seeing himself as an "arranger" rather than a director, Miike turned out an exhausting 24 films between 1999 and 2002, confirming his status as one of the busiest directors in world cinema.

He's made more than 50 films including City of Lost Souls, Visitor Q and Ichi the Killer and most recently Graveyard of Honour.