Alexandre Aja

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Alexandre Aja (b. 7 August 1978, Paris, France) is a French film director who rose to international stardom in 2005 for his horror film Haute Tension.

Aja, who is Jewish,[1] is the son of director Alexandre Arcady and French cinema critic Marie-Jo Jouan. His wife is Moroccan filmmaker Laila Marrakchi. He made his directorial debut at the age of eighteen with the short film Over The Rainbow, which received a Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm Award nomination for best short film. In 1999 he directed Furia, a movie based on Julio Cortazar's short story Graffiti.

Haute Tension placed Aja on the map for the horror movie genre. The French slasher, though sticking to horror convention, pushed the gore and tension envelope. Favouring make-up effects to computer generated imagery, the film quickly found respect amongst horror fans. It was released in the U.S. as High Tension after some editing. The film was nominated for grand prize at the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival and earned Aja awards for best direction and best fantasy film at the Catalonian International Film Festival.

American director Wes Craven asked Aja to come up with a concept for the remake of his film The Hills Have Eyes after seeing Haute Tension. Craven subsequently asked Aja to direct the movie, which was also released under an 'R' rating in the U.S. after minor editing.

His next project is a horror film entitled Mirrors, about a mysterious mirror that brings out the worst aspects of people whenever they look at themselves in it. He will also be directing the film The Waiting, a modern ghost story.

Because Alexandre Aja is working on Into The Mirror, he will not direct the sequel to The Hills Have Eyes, which was the remake that was released March 10, 2006.

In 2004, Aja was named to the Variety – Ten Directors To Watch list.