Cult works by Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inárritu

Alejandro G. Inárritu will receive the rare Special Award Oscar on November 11 at the Governors Award gala. The prize recognizes the cinematic innovation of Inárritu's virtual reality film "Carne y Arena," which tells the story of Mexican refugees crossing the US border. According to the Academy, the work "opened new doors of cinematic perception."

In "Carne y Arena," the viewers (or participants) experience scenes from the lives of Mexican refugees. The VR film conveys a realistic visual and acoustic impression, setting participants in the middle of dangerous situations. "Carne y Arena" is not the first project for which the director innovated with form.

Inárritu's most recent feature film, "The Revenant," was released in 2015. The critically-acclaimed work is a semi-biographical epic western describing frontiersman Hugh Glass' experiences in 1823. While exploring the uncharted wilderness, Glass deals with life-threatening injuries from a brutal bear attack and develops extreme survival skills to find a way back to civilization.

His directorial debut, "Amores Perros" (2000), was a considerable success. The feature film tells the hardships of life in Mexico City through three separate storylines that come together through a car accident. The movie won two awards at the Cannes Festival and subsequently numerous other international awards.

Inárritu's second feature film, "21 Grams" (2003), confirmed the visionary ambitions of the up-and-coming director. The drama, starring Sean Penn in the role of a patient after a heart surgery, features an unconventional fragmented narrative form and a shocking conclusion.

The following, critically-acclaimed film "Babel" (2006), left much of the audience puzzled for its frequently broken narrative construction. Despite the experimental nature of the film, Inárritu, then already a star, did not have to persuade big Hollywood names to work with him. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett joined the cast immediately.

With "Biutiful" (2010), Inárritu returned to conventional storytelling. The movie tells the story of professional criminal Uxbal, played by Javier Bardem. A devoted father with compassion for the workers he exploits, he tries to get his affairs in order before he dies of cancer.

Even though Inárritu was already a superstar before "Birdman," the 2014 movie secured his position among the Hollywood elite. The satiric story about a worn-out movie star portrayed by Michael Keaton was made to appear like a one-shot sequence. It won four Oscars.