Joshua Henry Safdie
(born April 3, 1984) is an American filmmaker and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing the crime thriller films ''
Good Time'' (2017) and ''
Uncut Gems
''Uncut Gems'' is a 2019 American crime thriller film directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bronstein. It stars Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, and Eric Bogosian ...
'' (2019) with his younger brother
Benny Safdie
Benjamin Safdie (born February 24, 1986) is an American filmmaker, film editor, and actor. He and his elder brother, Josh, have directed the films '' Heaven Knows What'' (2014), '' Good Time'' (2017), and '' Uncut Gems'' (2019). Transitioning ...
as the
Safdie Brothers
Josh Safdie, Joshua Henry Safdie (born April 3, 1984) and Benny Safdie, Benjamin Safdie (born February 24, 1986) are independent American filmmakers and actors based in New York City, who frequently collaborate on their films. They are best know ...
. In 2024, it was reported that they would no longer be directing together and would pursue solo careers.
His first solo directorial debut since the split will be
Marty Supreme
''Marty Supreme'' is an upcoming American sports adventure comedy-drama film directed by Josh Safdie, who co-wrote it with Ronald Bronstein. The film stars and is co-produced by Timothée Chalamet. It is scheduled to be released in the United ...
, starring
Timothee Chalamet to be released on December 25, 2025.
Early life and education
Safdie was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to Amy and Alberto Safdie.
He and brother Benny divided their childhood living between their father in
Queens
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
and their mother and stepfather in
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
after their parents' divorce.
[
He attended ]Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School
Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School ("Columbia Grammar", "Columbia Prep", "CGPS", "Columbia") is a school at 5 West 93rd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The oldest nonsectarian independent school in the city, it se ...
[ and graduated from the ]Boston University College of Communication
__NOTOC__
The Boston University College of Communication (COM) is the communication school of Boston University (BU), a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1947, it was the first university in the United States to of ...
in 2007.
Career
Filmmaker
The Safdies' first feature was the 2009 film '' Daddy Longlegs'', which they also wrote the screenplay and edited together. The film was showcased in the Directors' Fortnight
The Directors' Fortnight (, formerly ) is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festival as a ...
at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
The 62nd Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert served as jury president for the main competition. Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the dram ...
. In 2013, they debuted the documentary film '' Lenny Cooke'' at the Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...
, a documentary they became attached to after Cooke approached them to review the footage. In 2014, the pair premiered their next film '' Heaven Knows What'' at the 71st Venice International Film Festival
The 71st annual Venice International Film Festival , was held from 27 August to 6 September 2014, at Venice Lido in Italy.
French composer Alexandre Desplat was the jury president for the main competition. Italian actress Luisa Ranieri hoste ...
. In February 2016, the brothers began filming their crime thriller film '' Good Time''. It premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival
The 70th Cannes Film Festival took place from 17 to 28 May 2017, in Cannes, France. Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar was the president of the jury for the main competition. Italian actress Monica Bellucci hosted the opening and closing cerem ...
, where it competed for the Palme d'Or
The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...
.
''Uncut Gems
''Uncut Gems'' is a 2019 American crime thriller film directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bronstein. It stars Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, and Eric Bogosian ...
'', Josh and Benny's next film, starred Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...
, Lakeith Stanfield
LaKeith Lee Stanfield (born August 12, 1991) is an American actor. He made his feature film debut in '' Short Term 12'' (2013), for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. He received further recognition for his roles in the fil ...
and Julia Fox
Julia Fox (born February 2, 1990) is an Italian and American actress, model, and media personality. Her debut performance was in the 2019 film ''Uncut Gems'', for which she was nominated for the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Ac ...
and was executive produced by Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
. The brothers won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Director
The Film Independent's Spirit Award for Best Director is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards.
History
It was first presented in 1985 with Joel Coen and Martin Scorsese being the first winners of the category for '' Blood Simple'' and '' ...
, and Benny shared the Independent Spirit Award for Best Editing
The Independent Spirit Award for Best Editing is one of the annual awards given out by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers. It was first presented in 2013, with American editor Nat S ...
with Ronald Bronstein
Ronald Bronstein is an American film director, screenwriter, editor and actor. He directed, wrote and edited the independent film Frownland (2007). He is a frequent collaborator of the Safdie brothers, best known for being a co-writer and co-e ...
, with whom he co-edited with on all the Safdie brother films.
Solo career
In early 2024, it was reported that Josh and Benny would no longer be directing films together and would pursue solo careers. His brother, Benny described the split as amicable, calling it a "natural progression of what we each want to explore."
His next feature is ''Marty Supreme
''Marty Supreme'' is an upcoming American sports adventure comedy-drama film directed by Josh Safdie, who co-wrote it with Ronald Bronstein. The film stars and is co-produced by Timothée Chalamet. It is scheduled to be released in the United ...
'', a fictionalized original film loosely based on Marty Reisman
Martin 'Marty' Reisman (February 1, 1930 – December 7, 2012) was an American champion table tennis player and author. He was the 1958 and 1960 U.S. Men's singles champion and the 1997 U.S. hardbat champion.
Early life
Reisman was born on Feb ...
, a hustler-turned-champion table tennis
Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...
player. It stars Timothee Chalamet and Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow ( ; born September 27, 1972) is an American actress and businesswoman. The daughter of filmmaker Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner, she established herself as a leading lady appearing in mainly mid-budget and perio ...
. It is set to be released by A24
A24 Films LLC, commonly referred to as A24, is an American Privately held company, independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. The studio is based in Manhattan.
The company ...
on December 25, 2025. His frequent collaborator Ronald Bronstein
Ronald Bronstein is an American film director, screenwriter, editor and actor. He directed, wrote and edited the independent film Frownland (2007). He is a frequent collaborator of the Safdie brothers, best known for being a co-writer and co-e ...
both co-wrote and edited the film, while Darius Khondji
Darius Khondji (; born 21 October 1955) is an Iranian-French cinematographer. He is known for his work with directors such as Jean-Pierre Jeunet, David Fincher, Michael Haneke, Woody Allen, James Gray, Bong Joon-ho, Wong Kar-Wai, and the Safdi ...
was the cinematographer and Jack Fisk
Jack Fisk (born December 19, 1945) is an American production designer and director.
As a production designer, he is known for his collaborations with Terrence Malick, designing all of his first eight films, including ''Badlands'' (1973), '' Day ...
was the production designer. Its $70 million budget makes it A24
A24 Films LLC, commonly referred to as A24, is an American Privately held company, independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. The studio is based in Manhattan.
The company ...
's most expensive film.
Personal life
Safdie is Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
. His father was born in Italy, raised in France and is of Sephardic-Jewish and Syrian-Jewish descent. His mother is of Russian-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...
descent. His great uncle is architect Moshe Safdie
Moshe Safdie (; born July 14, 1938) is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author. He is well known for incorporating principles of socially responsible design throughout his six-decade career. His projects include cultural, ed ...
. His cousin once removed is playwright Oren Safdie
Oren Safdie (; born April 20, 1965) is a Canadian- American-Israeli playwright and screenwriter, and the son of architect Moshe Safdie.
Early life
Safdie was born in Montreal, Quebec, to Canadian-Israeli architect Moshe Safdie. His father's fami ...
.
He is a fan of the New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...
. Basketball is prominently featured in ''Lenny Cooke'' and ''Uncut Gems''.
Filmography
Feature films
Television
As Actor
Awards and nominations
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Safdie, Josh
1984 births
Film directors from New York City
American male screenwriters
American film editors
Jewish American male actors
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American people of Syrian descent
American people of Syrian-Jewish descent
Syrian Jews
Boston University College of Communication alumni
Independent Spirit Award for Best Director winners
Living people
Mass media people from Manhattan
Mass media people from Queens, New York
Safdie family
20th-century American Sephardic Jews
21st-century American Sephardic Jews