Safdie brothers

Joshua Henry 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.

Josh and Benny Safdie
Josh (left) and Benny being interviewed at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival
Born	Joshua Henry Safdie (1984-04-03) April 3, 1984 (age 41) Benjamin Safdie (1986-02-24) February 24, 1986 (age 39) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Boston University
Occupations	Filmmakers directors editors actors
Years active	2007–present
Spouse	Benny: Ava Safdie ​ ​ (m. 2013)​
Children	Benny: 2, Josh: 1[1]
Relatives	Moshe Safdie (great-uncle) Oren Safdie (first cousin once removed) Dov Charney (first cousin once removed)
Awards	Full list
Website	elara.world

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.

Early life

The Safdie brothers were raised in New York, the children of Amy and Alberto Safdie.^[5] They spent their childhood living between their father in Queens and their mother and stepfather in Manhattan.^[5] The Safdie brothers are Jewish. Their father, who is a Sephardic Jew of Syrian-Jewish descent, was raised in France and in Italy.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} Their mother is an Ashkenazi Jew of Russian-Jewish descent.^[10]

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]

Daddy Longlegs

Their second feature film, Daddy Longlegs, had its world premiere under the title Go Get Some Rosemary^[19] in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.^[20] Starring Ronald Bronstein, it was inspired by the filmmakers' younger years living with their father, Alberto.^[13] Bronstein won the Breakthrough Actor Award at the Gotham Independent Film Awards 2010.^[21] The film won the John Cassavetes Award at the 26th Independent Spirit Awards.^[22]

Lenny Cooke

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]

Heaven Knows What

In 2014, the Safdie Brothers produced Heaven Knows What under their Elara Pictures banner.^[25] The film centers around the real-life stories written in a book titled Mad Love in New York City by lead actress Arielle Holmes.^[26] The film had its world premiere at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.^[27] It also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, and the Tokyo International Film Festival.^[27]

Good Time

The Safdies directed the 2017 crime film Good Time, starring Robert Pattinson and Benny Safdie as siblings.^[28] The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.^[29]

Uncut Gems

The Safdies (center and right) with Adam Sandler in December 2019.

The Safdies directed Uncut Gems, starring Adam Sandler, with Martin Scorsese serving as an executive producer.^[30] The film was inspired by their father's time working in the Manhattan Diamond District.^[13][8] It had its world premiere at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival.^[31] Theatrically released in the United States in 2019, it received critical acclaim and became one of A24's highest-grossing releases.^[32]

Split and Solo Projects

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] Later in 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.^[38] In January 2024, Benny confirmed that the brothers would no longer be directing projects together, as they expanded to solo careers.^[39]

Elara Pictures

The Safdies co-founded the production company Elara Pictures in 2014.^[40] The company produced the Safdies' feature films Heaven Knows What, Good Time, and Uncut Gems,^[41] Owen Kline's feature film directorial debut Funny Pages,^[42] and the Showtime television series The Curse.^[43]

Filmography

See also: Benny Safdie § Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	DoP	Editor
2008	The Pleasure of Being Robbed	Josh	Josh	Josh	Josh	Yes
2009	Daddy Longlegs	Yes	Yes	No	Josh	Yes
2013	Lenny Cooke	Yes	No	No	Josh	Benny
2014	Heaven Knows What	Yes	Josh	No	No	Benny
2017	Good Time	Yes	Josh	No	No	Benny
2019	Uncut Gems	Yes	Yes	No	No	Benny
2025	The Smashing Machine	Benny	Benny	Benny	No	Benny
	Marty Supreme	Josh	Josh	Josh	No	No

Producers only

Film	Year	Producers
Funny Pages	2022	Yes
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You	2025	Josh

Short films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	DoP	Editor
2002	Lethargy	Josh	Josh	No	No	No
2005	I Think I'm Missing Parts	Josh	Josh	No	No	No
	The Ralph Handel Story	Yes	No	No	No	No
2006	We're Going To The Zoo	Josh	Josh	Josh	No	No
2007	The Back of Her Head	Josh	Yes	Josh	No	No
	Jerry Ruis, Shall We Do This?	Josh	No	No	No	No
	John's Lonely Trip to Coney Island	Yes	No	No	Josh	Benny
2008	The Acquaintances of a Lonely John	Benny	Benny	Benny	No	Benny
	There's Nothing You Can Do	Yes	No	No	No	No
2010	John's Gone	Yes	Yes	Yes	Josh	Yes
2011	Straight Hustle	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
	Buttons	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
2012	The Black Balloon	Yes	Yes	No	No	Benny
	Trophy Hunter	Yes	Yes	No	Josh	Josh
2013	Solid Gold[44]	Yes	No	No	Josh	No
2016	Toback Vs. Mailer: The Incident	Yes	Yes	No	No	Benny
2020	Goldman v Silverman	Yes	Uncredited	No	Josh	No
	Question & Answer	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes

Television

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
2023	The Curse	No	Benny	Executive	Co-creator; miniseries
	Telemarketers	No	No	Executive	TV series
	Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God	No	No	Executive	Documentary mini-series
2024	Ren Faire	No	No	Executive	Documentary mini-series
	Adam Sandler: Love You	Josh	No	Josh	Netflix comedy special

Josh as an actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	We're Going to the Zoo	The Hitchhiker	Short film
	The Ralph Handel Story	The Director (voice)	Short film
2007	The Back of Her Head	Him	Short film
2008	The Pleasure of Being Robbed	Josh
	Yeast	Riverguy 1
2009	Taking Woodstock	Documentary Cameraman	Uncredited
	Daddy Longlegs	Chris
	La corsa	Alessandro	Short film
2013	Lydia Hoffman Lydia Hoffman	Bruce	Short film
	Hellaware	Gallery Patron
	Stand Clear of the Closing Doors	Fighter
2015	This Summer Feeling	Thomas
2016	Togetherness	Craddock Brother #1	Episode: "Advanced Pretend"
	My Art	Tom
2017	Ezer Kenegdo	Levi

Music videos

Year	Artist	Title	Album	Role	Ref.
2015	Ariel Pink	"I Need a Minute"	Heaven Knows What: Original Music From the Film	Directors	[45]
2017	Jay-Z	"Marcy Me"	4:44		[46]
	Oneohtrix Point Never	"The Pure and the Damned"	Good Time (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)		[47]
2019	Brockhampton	"Sugar"	Ginger	Producers	[48]
2020	Oneohtrix Point Never	"Lost But Never Alone"	Magic Oneohtrix Point Never	Directors	[49]

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by the Safdie brothers

Influences

Their artistic influences included the cinematic works of John Cassavetes, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino as well as underground comix artist Robert Crumb and author Irvine Welsh.^[50][51][52]

Benny named Robert Bresson's A Man Escaped as his favorite film of all time, and Josh named Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves as his favorite.^[53]

Notes