Haneke, Michael (1942- )

Austrian director and screenwriter. His film La Pianiste won the Grand Prix at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. He came to international prominence with the controversial and disturbing films Benny's Video (1992) and Funny Games (1997).

Haneke worked as a playwright with the Südwestfunk Theatre Company 1967-70 and wrote scripts for German television. He wrote and directed several plays before turning to film. His other films include Der 7 Seibent Kontinent/The Seventh Continent (1989), 71 Fragmente Einer Chonologie des Zufalls/71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994), Code Inconnu/Code Unknown (2000), and Le Temps du Loup/The Time of the Wolf (2003).