The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Schnabel began his film career in the 1990s with the film "Basquiat", a biopic on the painter Jean-Michel Basquiat (1996), followed by "Before Night Falls" (2000), an adaptation of Reinaldo Arenas' autobiographical novel, which he also produced, and which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. He directed "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (2007), an adaptation (with a screenplay by Ronald Harwood) of a French memoir by Jean-Dominique Bauby. "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" earned him the award for best director at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globe for best director, the Independent Spirit Award for best director, and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.