Josh Safdie
Birthdate: Apr 3, 1984
Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA
Josh Safdie (birth name: Joshua Henry Safdie) is one of the leading American independent filmmakers, along with his brother, Benny Safdie, with whom he has been a filmmaking partner until 2024, when the brothers decided to make their movies separately. Josh and Benny after making several short films together in various capacities since 2004--the brothers Safdie made their first feature, The Pleasure of Being Robbed, with Josh as director/co-writer (with Eleonore Hendricks)/co-story writer (with Andy Space and Anthony Sperduti)/producer/actor and co-edited by Josh and Benny, and released by IFC Films after premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival.
Josh Safdie was co-director/co-writer/co-editor with Benny of the comedy-drama, Daddy Longlegs (2009)—originally titled Go Get Some Rosemary—starring Ronald Bronstein (who was also co-writer and co-editor), premiering in the Directors’ Fortnight parallel selection in the Cannes Film Festival and released by IFC Films. Josh was director/cinematographer of his only non-fiction film with Benny (who was co-director and editor), Lenny Cooke (2013), profiling former high school basketball player of the same name, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival and released by distributor Under the Milky Way.
Josh Safdie returned to narrative filmmaking as co-director (with Benny), and co-writer (with Ronald Bronstein, who also co-edited with Benny) of Heaven Knows What (2014), based on Mad Love in N.Y.C., the unpublished memoir of lead actor Arielle Holmes, with Caleb Landry Jones as co-lead, premiering in the Venice Film Festival’s Orrizonte section and released by RADiUS. Josh Safdie was once again co-director (with Benny, who also co-starred) and co-writer (with Bronstein) as well as co-lead actor opposite the lead in the tense crime drama, Good Time (2017), co-starring Robert Pattinson, with Buddy Duress, Taliah Lennice Webster, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Barkhad Abdi, launching in the Palme d’Or competition at the Cannes Film Festival and released by A24 to a $4 million gross.
Josh Safdie was co-director (with Benny) and co-writer (with Benny and Bronstein) of the brothers’ most successful and highest acclaimed comedy-drama, Uncut Gems (2019), starring Adam Sandler in arguably his career-best performance with LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel and Eric Bogosian, premiering in the Telluride Film Festival and released by A24 (in the U.S.) and Netflix (international), with a strong box office return of $50 million. Safdie was, for the first time, a producer only (with Josh) on director/writer/co-editor Owen Kline’s black comedy, Funny Pages (2022), starring Daniel Zolghadri and Matthew Maher, and which premiered in Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight parallel section and was produced/distributed by A24.
Josh Safdie branched out on his first solo feature without Benny as director/producer/co-writer and co-editor (both with Ronald Bronstein) of the 1950s-era ping-pong saga, Marty Supreme (2025), starring Timothée Chalamet, Odessa A’zion, Sandra Bernhard, Emory Cohen, Ralph Colucci, Fran Drescher, Abel Ferrara, Pico Iyer, Koto Kawaguchi, Luke Manley, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma and Gwyneth Paltrow, launching at the New York Film Festival and released wide by A24.
Josh reunited with Adam Sandler as lead and brother Benny as a producer as well as—for the first time—solo director/writer on the provisionally titled Untitled Adam Sandler/Safdie Brothers Project (date to be announced), set in the 1990s world of high-end sports card collecting co-starring Eminem, Steve Harvey, Megan Thee Stallion and Lil’ Wayne, and which was backed by Netflix Studios.
Josh Safdie was a producer (with frequent collaborator Ronald Bronstein, as well as Elijah Wood) on director/writer Kyle Edward Ball’s northern Canadian horror movie, The Land of Nod (date to be announced), with Phillip Forest Lewitski, Clare Coulter, Aviva Mongillo, and was primarily produced and released by A24. Josh continued as a producer only on director/writer/producer Sean Durkin’s Deep Cuts (date to be announced), based on Holly Brickley’s novel and co-starring Cailee Spaeny and Drew Starkey, with fellow producers including Josh’s frequent collaborator Ronald Bronstein, Saoirse Ronan, and Eli Bush, and which was backed by producer-distributor A24.
Personal life
Josh Safdie was born and raised in New York City (in both Queens and Manhattan) by his parents, Amy and Alberto Safdie, and split his time with brother Benny between his father’s Queens home and his mother’s Manhattan home after the parents divorced. Benny attended Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School. Benny attended and graduated from Boston University College of Communication in 2008. Safdie is married to Sara Rossein (producer); the couple has one child.
Known For
Josh Safdie Movies
director
Upcoming (1)
- 2025 |
Marty Supreme
Marty Mauser, a young man with a dream no one respects, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.
Previous (2)
- 2019 |
Uncut Gems
With his debts mounting and angry collectors closing in, a fast-talking New York City jeweler risks everything in hope of staying afloat and alive.
- 2017 |
actor
Previous (10)
- 2018 |
My Art
asTom
A 65-year-old single artist living in New York City has a good life: a stable teaching job, successful friends, and a loyal, aging dog named Bing. As her dream of a respectable place in the art world becomes more elusive, her frustration with her lack of recognition feels alarmin... Read all
- 2017 | Ezer Kenegdoas Levi
- 2017 | Meet the Filmmakers: Josh and Benny Safdie
- 2014 | Heaven Knows What
- 2013 | Lenny Cooke
- 2011 | Buttons
- 2011 | Love and Other Anxieties
- 2009 | Daddy Longlegs
- 2008 | Yeastas Riverguy 1
- 2008 | The Pleasure of Being Robbed
Facts About Josh Safdie
Parents: Josh Safdie’s parents come from various parts of the Jewish diaspora—Alberto of Syrian Jewish heritage, and Amy of Russian Jewish heritage.
Honoring Scorsese: Safdie has, slightly in jest, referred to filmmaker Martin Scorsese as an “honorary Jew.”
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