Benjamin Safdie (born February 24, 1986) is an American film director, screenwriter, actor and film editor best known for working with his older brother

Josh Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to: People A–J * "Josh", an early pseudonym of S ...

as a filmmaker, whose works include '' 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. The film stars Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel and Eric Bogosi ...

'' (2019).

Early life

Safdie was born to Amy and Alberto Safdie, he is Jewish and was raised in New York. He and brother Josh would divide their childhood living between their father in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

and their mother and stepfather in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

upon their parents divorce. He attended

Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School ("Columbia Grammar", "Columbia Prep", "CGPS", "Columbia") is the oldest nonsectarian independent school in New York City, located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan (5 West 93rd Street). The school serves gr ...

, and graduated from the

Boston University College of Communication __NOTOC__ Boston University College of Communication (COM) is a communication school at Boston University. It was founded in 1947 as the School of Public Relations. The College of Communication is the oldest public relations school in the United ...

in 2008.

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 (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of 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 festiv ...

at the

2009 Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...

. In 2013, they debuted the documentary film ''

Lenny Cooke Leonard Cooke (born April 29, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, he is known primarily for having been ranked higher than LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony in 2001. He had averaged 25 poi ...

'' at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

, 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 ''Heaven Knows What'' is a 2014 psychological drama film directed by Ben and Joshua Safdie and written by Ronald Bronstein and Joshua Safdie. The film stars Arielle Holmes, Buddy Duress, Ron Braunstein, Eleonore Hendricks, Caleb Landry Jone ...

'' at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. 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 film director and screenwriter Pedro Almodóvar was the President of the Jury for the festival and Italian actress Monica Bellucci hosted the opening and ...

, where it competed for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

. In February 2016, the brothers began filming their crime thriller film '' Good Time''. which Benny starred in alongside

Robert Pattinson Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor. Known for starring in both big-budget and independent films, Pattinson has ranked among the world's highest-paid actors. In 2010, ''Time'' magazine named him one of the 1 ...

, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Benny, for his performance, was nominated for the

Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male The Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male was one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards. It was first presented in 1987, with Morgan Freeman being the first recipient, for his role as Fast Black in '' Street Smart''. It was last pre ...

. ''

'', Josh and Benny's next film, starred

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...

, Lakeith Stanfield and

Julia Fox Julia Fox (born February 2, 1990) is an Italian-American actress and model. As an actress, she is known for her debut performance in the 2019 film ''Uncut Gems'', for which she was nominated for the Breakthrough Actor Award at the 2019 Gotham ...

and was executive produced by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

. 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. It was first presented in 1985 with Joel Coen and Martin Scorsese being the first winners of the category for ''Blood Simple'' and '' After Hours ...

, 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 An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in moder ...

, with whom he co-edited with on all the Safdie brother films. In December 2020,

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

gave a series order to a half hour series titled '' The Curse'', which Safdie created alongside

Nathan Fielder Nathan Joseph Fielder (born May 12, 1983) is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, producer, and entrepreneur. He is best known for co-creating, directing, and starring in the Comedy Central parody reality show '' Nathan for You'' (2013� ...

. They will star alongside

Emma Stone Emily Jean Stone (born November 6, 1988), known professionally as Emma Stone, is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award. In 2017, she ...

in the series, with Josh serving as an executive producer.

Acting roles

In 2017, Safdie began taking on performances not directed by himself or Josh, appearing in a role in the film ''

Person to Person ''Person to Person'' is a popular television program in the United States that originally ran from 1953 to 1961, with two episodes of an attempted revival airing in 2012. Edward R. Murrow hosted the original series from its inception in 1953 unti ...

''. In 2020, he would appear in ''

Pieces of a Woman ''Pieces of a Woman'' is a 2020 drama film directed by Kornél Mundruczó, from a screenplay by Kata Wéber. The film stars Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf, Molly Parker, Sarah Snook, Iliza Shlesinger, Benny Safdie, Jimmie Fails, and Ellen Bursty ...

'', and in 2021 would star in the

Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. He made his feature-film debut with ''Hard Eight (film), Hard Eight'' (1996). He found critical and commercial success with ''Boogie Nights'' ( ...

film ''

Licorice Pizza ''Licorice Pizza'' is a 2021 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It stars Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman in their film debuts, alongside an ensemble supporting cast including Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Coo ...

''. In 2022, Safdie appeared in

Claire Denis Claire Denis (; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film ''Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s, as well as of all time. Other acclaimed works include '' Trouble Ev ...

' romantic thriller '' Stars at Noon'', and as Nari in the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

miniseries ''

Obi-Wan Kenobi Obi-Wan Kenobi () is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Within the Star Wars original trilogy, original trilogy, Obi-Wan is a Jedi Master as a supporting character and is portrayed by English actor Alec Guinn ...

''. He will star in the film adaptation ''

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret ''Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret'' is a middle-grade novel by Judy Blume, first published in 1970. Its protagonist, Margaret Simon, is a sixth-grader who grows up without a religious affiliation because of her parents' interfaith marriag ...

'', and as

Edward Teller Edward Teller ( hu, Teller Ede; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" (see the Teller–Ulam design), although he did not care fo ...

in '' Oppenheimer'', directed by

Christopher Nolan Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Cinema of the United States, Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. ...

, which will both premiere in 2023.

Personal life

Safdie is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, his father a

Sephardic Jew Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...

of Syrian-Jewish descent, and mother an

Ashkenazi Jew Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

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 pop ...

descent. His uncle is architect

Moshe Safdie Moshe Safdie ( he, משה ספדיה; born July 14, 1938) is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author, with Israeli, Canadian, and American citizenship. He is known for incorporating principles of socially responsible desi ...

and is cousins with playwright

Oren Safdie Oren Safdie ( he, אורן ספדיה; 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 S ...

. He is married to Ava Safdie, with whom he has two sons.

Filmography

As filmmaker

As actor

Film Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Red Bucket Films
{{DEFAULTSORT:Safdie, Benny 1986 births American film directors American screenwriters American actors American film editors 21st-century American Jews American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Syrian-Jewish descent American Ashkenazi Jews American Sephardic Jews American Mizrahi Jews Boston University College of Communication alumni Independent Spirit Award for Best Director winners Living people People from Manhattan People from Queens, New York