Josef Fares (born 19 September 1977) is a Swedish-Lebanese

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

video game designer Video game design is the process of designing the content and rules of video games in the pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the production stage. Some common video game design subdiscipline ...

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

descent. His brother is the actor

Fares Fares Fares Fares (; born 29 April 1973) is a Swedish-Lebanese actor of Assyrian descent. Early life Fares was born in Beirut, Lebanon. His younger brother is director Josef Fares, and he has four sisters. In 1987, when Fares was 14 years old, his ...

, who has appeared in many of his films. He is the founder of

Hazelight Studios Hazelight Studios is a video game development company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Founded by director Josef Fares in 2014, the company is best known for developing cooperative multiplayer games ''A Way Out (video game), A Way Out'' and ''It Take ...

Biography

Josef Fares moved to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

when he was 10 years old, fleeing the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

with his family. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' declared him one of ten upcoming directors to watch in 2006. The same year he won

the Nordic Council Film Prize The Nordic Council Film Prize is an annual film prize administered by the Nordic Council. The Nordisk Film & TV Fond is the funding body that administers the prize. History The first award was handed out in 2002 to celebrate the Nordic Council's 5 ...

for his film '' Zozo''. In 2013, he directed his first video game, '' Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons''. The game was well received by critics. Its focus is on the interaction between two brothers and on their journey to save their father. He then formed his development company named

, and partnered with publisher

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

for his next video game, '' A Way Out'', which was released 23 March 2018. On December 7, 2017, Josef appeared on

The Game Awards 2017 The Game Awards 2017 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2017, and took place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on December 7, 2017. The event was hosted by Geoff Keighley, and was live streamed around the world across ...

and gave a "passionate" speech while on stage with host

Geoff Keighley Geoff Keighley () is a Canadian video game journalist and television presenter. He was most known for hosting the video game show '' GameTrailers TV'', and for co-hosting the now-defunct ''G4tv.com''. Keighley is also a freelance writer whose w ...

, where he covered many topics including EA's microtransaction controversy with '' Star Wars Battlefront II'', and his game '' A Way Out''; he also spent time to heavily criticize the

Oscars 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 ...

due to their dispassionate take on video games, in what became known as his "fuck the Oscars" speech. Because of his speech, he has received international praise among fans and his speech has created a new

Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

involving mass vandalism of relevant

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pages, usually to reference the 2003 movie ''

The Room ''The Room'' is a 2003 American drama film written, produced, executive produced and directed by Tommy Wiseau, who stars in the film alongside Juliette Danielle and Greg Sestero. The film centers on a melodramatic love triangle between amiable ...

'', as many people compared him to the movie's director,

Tommy Wiseau Thomas P. Wiseau ( or ) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for writing, producing, directing, and starring in the 2003 film ''The Room'', which has been described by many critics as one of the List of films considered the worst, w ...

. Fares includes his "fuck the Oscars" speech as an

Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tr ...

in his 2021 game '' It Takes Two'' and referenced the speech while accepting the game's Game of the Year Award at

The Game Awards 2021 The Game Awards 2021 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2021. The event was hosted by Geoff Keighley, creator and producer of The Game Awards, and was held to an invited audience at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on De ...

Industry perspective

In an interview to ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' following ''It Takes Two''s win at The Game Awards 2021, Fares expressed his perspective on several topics in the game industry. He said he would "rather get shot in the knee" than include

NFTs The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2021 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repor ...

in future games, he also put forward that adjusting game design to make the player pay is wrong, and stated "For me, gaming is art". Fares has also commented on the topic of

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

within the gaming industry which was brought up at The Game Awards 2021 with respect to

Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. It was founded in July 2008 through the merger of Activision, Inc. (the publicly traded parent company of Activision Publishing) and Vivendi ...

and its CEO

Bobby Kotick Robert A. Kotick (born 1963) is an American businessman who serves as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Activision Blizzard. He became CEO of Activision in 1991 after purchasing a company stake the previous year. Kotick engineered a merger ...

, saying "I think sometimes you need to go through some shit to get to the other side. That’s what’s happening", as well as that unions help "but that’s just one of the things. I don’t think it solves everything. Education and knowledge, I think that’s most important."

Filmography

Film

*'' Jalla! Jalla!'' (2000) *''

Kopps ''Kopps'' is a 2003 Swedish action comedy film which was released to cinemas in Sweden on 7 February 2003, directed by Josef Fares. The name itself is a pun on pronouncing the English word "Cops" with a Swedish accent. Plot The film concerns the ...

'' (2003) *'' Zozo'' (2005) *'' Leo'' (2007) *'' Balls'' (2010)

Video games

* * *

References

External links

Hazelight Studios
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fares, Josef 1977 births Crystal Simorgh recipients Living people Male actors from Beirut Swedish video game designers Video game writers Swedish film directors Swedish people of Assyrian/Syriac descent Swedish male actors