Martin Charles Scorsese (New York, November 17, 1942) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. With a career spanning more than fifty years, Scorsese's films address themes related to Catholicism, Italian-American identity, or crime, characterized by its violence, use of vulgar language, being set in New York City and the inclusion of pop, rock and classic songs on the soundtrack. The Italian and Catholic origin of his family, his childhood in Little Italy and his fondness for Italian and American cinema of the 1940s and 1950s would influence his work as a filmmaker.

During his training as a filmmaker and shortly after graduating from New York University, he made his first short films and the feature film Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967). Later, he captured the attention of critics with the gangster film Mean Streets (1973), where the style that was to characterize him as a director became evident. He managed to catapult himself as part of the New Hollywood directing the dramatic films Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980), which consolidated his prestigious position thanks to their critical success and nominations for various awards, including the Oscar. During that time, in addition, Robert De Niro began acting under his direction, a partnership that was to be repeated in nine feature films. After a decade of mixed results, he returned to his best as a filmmaker with Goodfellas (1990).

Although he is known for directing gangster films thanks to the popularity of Goodfellas, Casino (1995) or The Irishman (2019), Scorsese has shown versatility exploring various genres. His filmography also includes the musical New York, New York (1977), the black comedies The King of Comedy (1983) and After Hours (1985), the psychological thriller Cape Fear (1991) and the romantic drama The Age of Innocence (1993). His career was not without controversy either, such as that unleashed from his portrait of Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) or the censorship suffered by Kundun (1997) by the Chinese communist government. Towards the beginning of the new millennium his productions began to have larger budgets, accompanied in some cases by commercial successes unprecedented in his career. The historical drama Gangs of New York (2002) marked the beginning of his collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio, who acted in five of his feature films. , including the biopic The Aviator (2004), the crime thriller The Departed (2006), the psychological thriller Shutter Island (2010), and the black satire The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). He also directed the adventure drama Hugo (2011) and the historical drama Silencio (2016).

After repeated nominations, Scorsese won the Oscar for best director thanks to his work on The Departed (2006). With nine Oscar nominations for best director, he is the living director with the most nominations in that category and the second in history. In addition to the Oscar, he has won multiple awards, including the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Primetime Emmy, SAG, Palme d'Or awards, the Cannes Film Festival award for best director, and the Silver Lion for best direction. . The impact of his cinema on culture has led him to become one of the most influential directors and is, in the opinion of film critic Roger Ebert, the "greatest working American director". Several of his films have been selected among the best of all time by organizations such as the American Film Institute or Sight and Sound and Empire magazines.

His work is not limited to directing fiction feature films. In his beginnings he got jobs as an editor, participating in the making of the documentary Woodstock (1970), and was selected by his mentor John Cassavetes to work as an assistant sound editor on Minnie and Moskowitz (1971). Working for television, He was executive director and directed the pilot episodes of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire (2010) and Vinyl (2016). As a music aficionado, he has directed a wide range of music-related documentaries, including The Last Waltz (1978), considered by some critics to be one of the greatest music documentaries of all time. He also directed No Direction Home (2005). ), Shine a Light (2008), George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011), and Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019). Likewise, part of his efforts are dedicated to the preservation of films through The Film Foundation, an organization founded for such purposes in 1990.