David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American (United States) filmmaker and visual artist. Over a lengthy career, Lynch has employed a distinctive and unorthodox approach to narrative filmmaking (dubbed Lynchian), which has become instantly recognizable to many audiences and critics worldwide. Lynchs films are known for nightmarish and dreamlike images and meticulously crafted sound design. Lynchs work often depicts a seedy underside of small town America (particularly Blue Velvet (Blue Velvet (film)) and Twin Peaks), or sprawling California metropolises (Lost Highway (Lost_Highway_(film)), Mulholland Drive (Mulholland Drive (film)) and his latest release, Inland Empire (Inland Empire (film))). Beginning with his experimental film school feature Eraserhead (1977), he has maintained a strong cult following despite inconsistent commercial success.

Lynch has received three Academy Award (Academy Awards) nominations for Best Director (Academy Award for Best Director), for his films The Elephant Man (The Elephant Man (film)) (1980), Blue Velvet (1986), and Mulholland Drive (2001), and has also received a screenplay Academy Award nomination for The Elephant Man. Lynch has twice won Frances C�sar Award for Best Foreign Film, as well as the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival. The French (France) government awarded him the Legion of Honor (L�gion dhonneur), the countrys top civilian honor, as Chevalier in 2002 and then Officier in 2007, whilst that same year, The Guardian described Lynch as "the most important director of this era".