Darius Marder is an American film director, screenwriter, and editor from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He is known for directing and co-writing ''

Sound of Metal ''Sound of Metal'' is a 2019 American drama film directed and co-written by Darius Marder. It stars Riz Ahmed as a metal drummer who loses his hearing, and also features Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, and Mathieu Amalric. ''Sound of M ...

'', for which he was nominated for

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

at the

93rd Academy Awards The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 2021 ...

. The film received a total of six nominations at the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, including

Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, winning Best Editing and

Best Sound This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...

. Marder also edited the Academy Award-winning documentary ''

Freeheld ''Freeheld'' is a 2015 American drama film directed by Peter Sollett and written by Ron Nyswaner. The film stars Julianne Moore, Elliot Page, Michael Shannon, Steve Carell, and Luke Grimes. It is based on the 2007 documentary short film of the ...

'' (2007).

Early life

Marder grew up in

Conway, Massachusetts Conway is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,761 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Conway was first settled by English colonists ...

with his parents and four siblings. His parents, Lauri and Efrem Marder, both artists from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, lived according to the teachings of the Russian philosopher and mystic

George Gurdjieff George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (; rus, Гео́ргий Ива́нович Гурджи́ев, r=Geórgy Ivánovich Gurdzhíev, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪd͡ʑ ɡʊrd͡ʐˈʐɨ(j)ɪf; hy, Գեորգի Իվանովիչ Գյուրջիև; c. 1 ...

. The family lived there with about 35 other followers, which Marder has described as a "beautiful experience." Marder performed poorly in high school, and did not attend college. At 18, he began teaching literature to middle school students. He later started a sushi catering business in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. Marder's great-grandfather was raised in an orthodox Jewish community in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Marder was particularly close to his paternal grandmother, , who was a gay activist. After taking an antibiotic for a bout of

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormones. There are two main types: acute pancreatitis, and chronic pancr ...

, Dorothy became

profoundly deaf Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken l ...

. Her sudden deafness had a significant impact on Darius.

Career

Once Marder had started his own family, he moved with his then wife and two children to New York, where their youngest child was born shortly afterwards. He worked as a chef and food stylist, while also writing, producing, and filming various projects. Marder met producer Dan Campbell, who told him about the life story of treasure hunter Lance Larson. Marder decided to make a film about the man. He made his directorial debut with the documentary ''Loot'', which premiered at the 2008

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

where it won the Best Documentary Feature award. The documentary focuses on Larson as he travels with two

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

veterans, Andrew Seventy and Darrel Ross, in search of the stolen materials in Europe that they buried after the war. Marder co-wrote ''

The Place Beyond the Pines ''The Place Beyond the Pines'' is a 2012 American epic crime drama film directed by Derek Cianfrance, and written by Cianfrance, Ben Coccio, and Darius Marder. The film tells three linear stories: Luke (Ryan Gosling), a motorcycle stunt rider ...

'' (2012) with his friend

Derek Cianfrance Derek M. Cianfrance (; born January 23, 1974) is an American film director, cinematographer, screenwriter, and editor. He is best known for writing and directing the films '' Blue Valentine,'' ''The Place Beyond the Pines and The Light Between O ...

. Cianfrance had previously been working on the hybrid documentary film ''Metalhead'', which centered on a metal drummer whose eardrums are ruptured and then becomes deaf. The film featured the members of the band

Jucifer Jucifer are a two piece American sludge metal band whose albums have been released by Alternative Tentacles, Capricorn Records, and Relapse Records along with their own imprint Nomadic Fortress Records. The band's members are Gazelle Amber Valent ...

portraying themselves. However, the project was later scrapped and abandoned, until Marder took it up, resulting in the

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

alized and distinct

narrative film Narrative film, fictional film or fiction film is a motion picture that tells a fictional or fictionalized story, event or narrative. Commercial narrative films with running times of over an hour are often referred to as feature films, or feature ...

''. Starring

Riz Ahmed Rizwan Ahmed (; ; born ) is a British actor and rapper. As an actor, he has won an Emmy Award and has received nominations for a Golden Globe and three British Independent Film Awards, and as a rapper he has won an Academy Award for the short ...

, the film premiered at the

2019 Toronto International Film Festival The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a ...

and was released by

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

in 2020. The film was shot in 2018 in Marder's native Massachusetts, primarily in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

, but also in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Lynn,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, Danvers,

Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, Malden,

Rowley Rowley may refer to: Places Canada * Rowley, Alberta * Rowley Island, Nunavut United Kingdom * Rowley, County Durham, a hamlet * Rowley, East Riding of Yorkshire, England * Rowley, Shropshire, a location in Shropshire, England * Rowley Regis, ...

, and Topsfield. Marder, his brother Abraham Marder, and Cianfrance received an

Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Awards, Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Be ...

nomination for the film. The film received a total of six nominations at the

, including

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...

(Ahmed) and Best Supporting Actor ( Paul Raci),

, and Best Film Editing. The film won two Oscars for Best Editing and

. Marder is currently co-writing the script for Cianfrance's upcoming film ''Empire of the Summer Moon'', an adaptation of

S. C. Gwynne S. C. "Sam" Gwynne is an American writer. He holds a bachelor's degree in history from Princeton University and a master's degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University. Life and career Gwynne was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and grew up ...

's nonfiction book ''Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Tribe in American History'' (2010).

Personal life

Marder recently moved back to Massachusetts after living 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 ...

for 25 years. He now lives in Ashfield. Marder also appeared on the hidden camera show ''

Impractical Jokers ''Impractical Jokers'' is an American hidden camera Reality television#Hidden cameras, reality show with improvisational elements. Produced by NorthSouth Productions, ''Impractical Jokers'' premiered on truTV on December 15, 2011 starring the m ...

'' as an unwitting passer-by to James Murray and Sal Vulcano's challenge; a discussion about whose story of losing their virginity was more embarrassing.

Filmography

As editor

Select awards

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

: Nomination for the

(''Sound of Metal'')

Chicago Film Critics Association The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) is an association of professional film critics, who work in print, broadcast and online media, based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The organization was founded in 1990 by film critics Sharon LeMa ...

Awards *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

: Nomination for the ''Milos Stehlik Award for Promising Filmmaker'' (''Sound of Metal'')

Critics' Choice Movie Awards The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Writt ...

: Nomination for ''

Best Screenplay Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

'' (''Sound of Metal'')

Deauville American Film Festival The Deauville American Film Festival (french: Festival du cinéma américain de Deauville, link=no) is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Cho ...

: Competition selection (''Sound of Metal'')

Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Catego ...

: Winner of Outstanding Directing – First-Time Feature Film (''Sound of Metal'') Hollywood Critics Association Awards *

: Winner of Best Male Director (''Sound of Metal'') *

: Nomination for Best First Feature (''Sound of Metal'') *

: Nomination for Best Original Screenplay (''Sound of Metal'')

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with Poly(methyl m ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

: Nomination for the Truer Than Fiction Award (''Loot'') *

: Winner of

Best First Feature Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

(''Sound of Metal'')

LA Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

* 2008: Winner of Best Documentary Feature (''Loot'') PEN Center USA Literary Awards * 2014: Winner of Best Screenplay (''The Place Beyond the Pines'')

San Diego Film Critics Society Awards The San Diego Film Critics Society (SDFCS) is an organization of film reviewers from San Diego-based publications that was founded in 1997. Overview The San Diego Film Critics Society (SDFCS) is composed of print, television, radio and digital ...

: Nomination for Best Director (''Sound of Metal'') *

: Runner-up for Best Original Screenplay (''Sound of Metal'')

Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

: Nomination for

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

(''Sound of Metal'')

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

: Nomination for the

Platform Prize The Platform Prize is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to films of "high artistic merit that also demonstrate a strong directorial vision."Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards * 2021: Nomination for Best Original Screenplay (''Sound of Metal'')

Writers Guild of America Awards The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility The ...

* 2021: Nomination for Best Original Screenplay (''Sound of Metal'')

Zurich Film Festival Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) is an annual film festival that has been held in Zürich, Switzerland, since 2005. The festival's main focus is to promote emerging filmmakers from all over the world. In three competition categories only first, second ...

* 2019: Winner of the Golden Eye for Best International Feature Film (''Sound of Metal'')

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marder, Darius Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American film editors American screenwriters Filmmakers from Massachusetts Film directors from Massachusetts People from Conway, Massachusetts Writers from Massachusetts People from Ashfield, Massachusetts American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Directors Guild of America Award winners