Martin Charles Scorsese Italian (born November 17, 1942) is an American filmmaker and actor, whose career spans more than 50 years. Part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and influential filmmakers in cinematic history. Scorsese's body of work explores such themes as Italian-American identity, Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption? faith, machismo, modern crime, and gang conflict. Many of his films are also known for their depiction of violence and liberal use of profanity. In 1990, he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation. He is a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema, and has won an Academy Award, a Palme d'Or, Cannes Film Festival Best Director Award, Silver Lion, Grammy Award, Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and Directors Guild of America Awards.