Independent filmmaker Araki has established himself as one of the leading voices of gay cinema. Despite the subversive nature of his films, he has found inspiration in screwball comedies, notably Bringing Up Baby. An Asian American, Araki attended the University of Southern California's film school. He made his feature film debut in 1987, with Three Bewildered People in the Night, a $5,000 film about a love triangle between a female video artists, her lover, and her gay friend. Araki most ambitious project is his “teen apocalypse trilogy,” which includes Totally F***ed Up (1993), The Doom Generation (1995), and Nowhere (1997). His latest is Mysterious Skin (2004), based on the novel by Scott Heim.
