Joshua Safdie[2] (born April 3, 1984)[3] and Benjamin Safdie[2] (born February 24, 1986)[4] are independent American filmmakers and actors based in New York City, who frequently collaborate on their films. They are best known for writing and directing the crime thriller films Good Time (2017), starring Robert Pattinson, and Uncut Gems (2019), starring Adam Sandler.
In addition to writing and directing, both Josh and Benny serve in a variety of key positions including acting, editing, shooting, mixing sound, and producing their films. They have also frequently collaborated with Ronald Bronstein, who has co-written and edited all of their narrative features beginning with the 2009 film Daddy Longlegs. Other recurring collaborators include composer Oneohtrix Point Never, cinematographer Sean Price Williams, and production designer Sam Lisenco.
They began making films at a young age, inspired by their film-enthusiast father, Alberto.[5] They graduated from Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School in Manhattan.[5] At Boston University, they co-founded the creative collective Red Bucket Films with Alex Kalman, Sam Lisenco, Brett Jutkiewicz, and Zachary Treitz.[11] Josh and Benny Safdie graduated from Boston University College of Communication in 2007 and 2008, respectively.[12] They claim "turmoil of their youth", as children of divorced parents, became an inspiration for later work.[13] Famed Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie is their great uncle; his son, playwright Oren Safdie, is their second cousin.[14][15]
The brothers grew up as fans of basketball and the New York Knicks. The duo try to watch every game together.[16] Basketball is prominently featured in Lenny Cooke and Uncut Gems.
Career
The Pleasure of Being Robbed
In 2007, Josh Safdie was hired by Andy Spade and Anthony Sperduti to create a short film featuring Kate Spade Handbags.[17] He devised a concise story about the adventures of a kleptomaniac woman.[17]Eleonore Hendricks, who co-wrote the screenplay, portrayed the lead role.[17] The project eventually turned into a feature film.[17] The film, titled The Pleasure of Being Robbed, had its world premiere at the 2008 South by Southwest.[18] It also screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, along with a short film The Acquaintances of a Lonely John directed by Benny Safdie.[17]
Their first full-length documentary film, Lenny Cooke, follows the life of Lenny Cooke, a once phenom high school basketball player, from adolescence to manhood.[23] The film premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.[24]
In December 2017, The Hollywood Reporter announced that the Safdies would helm a remake of 48 Hrs. with the script being written by Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein, and Jerrod Carmichael.[33] In December 2019, the Safdies elaborated in an interview with The A.V. Club, saying the film was still being made but it would no longer be a remake.[34] Their script would instead be "re-shifted into something original."[34]
In February 2020, Showtime ordered a pilot for The Curse, a show about the making of an HGTV-style reality series, starring Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie. Fielder co-created and co-wrote the show with Benny.[35][36]
In April 2022, it was reported by IndieWire that the Safdies were working with Sandler on a new project.[37] The project, co-written by both brothers, was said to be set in the world of sports memorabilia,[38] and was rumored to co-star Ben Affleck, Steve Harvey, Megan Thee Stallion and Gael Garcia Bernal.[39] Later in February 2023, Sandler said "The first draft of the new [script] was 340 pages! It was insane and it was great."[40] By July 2023, it was reported that Benny would not co-direct the film, marking the first time since The Pleasure of Being Robbed either of the brothers have directed solo.[41] In January 2024, Benny confirmed that the brothers would no longer be directing projects together, as they expanded to solo careers.[42]
Elara Pictures
The Safdies co-founded the production company Elara Pictures in 2014.[43] The company produced the Safdies' feature films Heaven Knows What, Good Time, and Uncut Gems,[44]Owen Kline's feature film directorial debut Funny Pages,[45] and the Showtime television series The Curse.[46]
^Jacqueline Coley (January 14, 2020). "The Safdie Brothers' Five Favorite Films". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2021. Benny Safdie: "Then the second one – and let's say, this was in no particular order – but A Man Escaped, the [Robert] Bresson movie. That has to be my favorite movie of all time, just because it always makes me cry at the end, because I feel like I've achieved something that the character achieves. And it tells you what happens in the title, and it makes it no less suspenseful the entire way. You're literally feeling the sound of the gravel as he puts his foot down – those shots of the foot or the spoon going into the slot. All of these things, the editing of it, the character, the way he's using these actors who you don't really know, they just – you feel like they're real people. It's just so perfectly put together, and it's something where I kind of feel like I'm going along with the escape in a way that's just done by a master. In a weird way, I feel like Bresson is the Fontaine character in that movie. But what's weird is I've watched it again recently, and I had a totally different feeling of it, where it was more about society and how people are talking to each other. And then you realize Bresson is just kind of making the same movie every time, just with different [settings and characters]. One's World War II, one's Lancelot."
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