F. W. Murnau
F. W. Murnau (1888–1931) was a German director, one of the central figures of the silent-era German cinema and an indispensable influence on the visual language of the medium. Trained in art and theatre under Max Reinhardt, he turned to filmmaking after the First World War and produced a series of works that pushed the camera, lighting, and editing in startlingly expressive new directions. After moving to Hollywood, he made his masterpiece Sunrise before his early death in a car accident. His acclaimed films include Nosferatu, The Last Laugh, Faust, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, and Tabu.