Martin Scorsese wins Princess of Asturias Award

The annual prizes, which used to be the Prince of Asturias Awards until Crown Prince Felipe became King and the immediate heir to the throne became his daughter Leonor, now 12 – go to people or institutions who have made an outstanding contribution to science, social and humanitarian causes, technology and culture.

This latter category includes the arts, covering film, theatre, dance, music, photography, painting, sculpture, architecture and other related fields.

Scorsese, 75, was born in Queens, New York, and grew up in the neighbourhood in the Big Apple known as Little Italy, since his parents were Sicilian.

After graduating in English Literature and Film Direction at New York University, he launched a series of short films and his first full-length feature film in 1967, Who's that knocking at my door?

In 1970, Scorsese worked on the documentary Woodstock and, three years later, created his second full-length film, Mean Street, in which he directed Robert de Niro for the first time, leading to his being launched to fame.

One of the key creators of the 'New Hollywood' movement which began to emerge in the 1960s along with Star Wars director George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and his fellow Princess of Asturias Award winner Francis Ford Coppola – who earned the prize in 2015 – Scorsese has directed 24 feature films, 14 documentaries and numerous TV series episodes, as well as starring in 20 films.

Of his own creations, 14 films were literary adaptations, since Scorsese is an avid reader.

Historic productions include Taxi driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980) – which won De Niro an Oscar – Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), The Departed (2006) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) starring Leonardo di Caprio.

He is working on a new film due out in 2019 – The Irishman, starring Robert de Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino and Harvey Keitel with the screenplay, based upon Charles Brandt's novel I heard you paint houses, written by Steven Zaillian.

It will be premièred on Netflix, which has acquired the film rights after a deal between Scorsese and Paramount Pictures collapsed due to uncertainty following the latter's chairman, Brad Grey, leaving the company.

Paramount said Scorsese's new project, which has a budget of around US$100 million, was 'risky' and that the studio was 'not in a position to take on risks' after Grey's departure.

Photograph: Martin Scorsese at Cannes Film Festival in 2010 (Georges Biard/Wikimedia Commons)