Benny Safdie

American actor and director

Benny Safdie

Safdie in 2010

Born|

Benjamin Safdie

(1986-02-24) February 24, 1986 (age 38)

New York City, U.S.

Education| Boston University
Occupation(s)| Film director, screenwriter, actor, film editor
Years active| 2007–present
Spouse|

Ava Rawski

(m. 2013)​

Children| 2
Relatives|

* Josh Safdie (brother)
* Moshe Safdie (great-uncle)
* Oren Safdie (first cousin once removed)
* Dov Charney (first cousin once removed)

Benjamin Safdie (born February 24, 1986)[1] is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and film editor best known for working with his older brother Josh as a filmmaker. His directorial works include Heaven Knows What (2014), Good Time (2017), and Uncut Gems (2019). Transitioning towards acting, Safdie was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his role in Good Time and has since taken on roles in films such as Licorice Pizza (2021), Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. and Oppenheimer (both 2023). He co-created, co-wrote and starred in the television show The Curse (2023).

## Early life

[edit]

Safdie was born to Amy and Alberto Safdie; of Syrian Jewish descent and was raised in New York.[2] He and brother Josh divided their childhood living between their father in Queens and their mother and stepfather in Manhattan upon their parents' divorce.[2] He attended Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School[2] and graduated from the Boston University College of Communication in 2008.

## Career

[edit]

### Filmmaker

[edit]

Main article: Safdie brothers

The Safdies' first feature was the 2009 film Daddy Longlegs, which they also wrote the screenplay and edited together.[3] The film was showcased in the Directors' Fortnight at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.[4] In 2013, they debuted the documentary film Lenny Cooke at the Tribeca Film Festival,[5] a documentary they became attached to after Cooke approached them to review the footage.[6] In 2014, the pair premiered their next film Heaven Knows What at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.[7] In February 2016, the brothers began filming their crime thriller film Good Time. which Benny starred in alongside Robert Pattinson, in New York City.[8] It premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or.[9] Benny, for his performance, was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male.[10]

Uncut Gems, Josh and Benny's next film, starred Adam Sandler, Lakeith Stanfield and Julia Fox and was executive produced by Martin Scorsese.[11] The brothers won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Director, and Benny shared the Independent Spirit Award for Best Editing with Ronald Bronstein, with whom he co-edited with on all the Safdie brother films.[12]

Safdie and Nathan Fielder co-created the Showtime series The Curse, which premiered in November 2023.[13]

### Acting roles

[edit]

In 2017, Safdie began taking on performances not directed by himself or Josh, appearing in a role in the film Person to Person.[14] In 2020, he appeared in Pieces of a Woman,[15] and in 2021 had a large supporting role in the Paul Thomas Anderson film Licorice Pizza.[16]

In 2022, Safdie appeared in Claire Denis' romantic thriller Stars at Noon,[17] and as Nari in the Disney+ miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi.[18] In 2023, he starred in the film adaptation Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.,[19] and appears as Edward Teller in Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan.[20]

## Personal life

[edit]

Safdie is Jewish. His father was born in Italy, raised in France and is of Sephardic-Jewish and Syrian-Jewish descent.[2][21][22][23] His mother is of Russian-Jewish descent.[24] His great uncle is architect Moshe Safdie. His cousin once removed is playwright Oren Safdie.[25]

He is married to Ava Safdie (née Rawski), with whom he has two sons, Cosmo and Murray James.[26]

## Filmography

[edit]

### As filmmaker

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director | Writer | Editor | Collaboration with Josh  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|
|

2008  | The Pleasure of Being Robbed | No  | No  | Yes  | Yes  |
2009  | Daddy Longlegs | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  |
2013  | Lenny Cooke | Yes  | No  | Yes  | Yes  |
2014  | Heaven Knows What | Yes  | No  | Yes  | Yes  |
2017  | Good Time | Yes  | No  | Yes  | Yes  |
2019  | Uncut Gems | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  |
2022  | Funny Pages | No  | No  | No  | Yes  | producer
2025  | The Smashing Machine | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | Also producer[27]

### As actor

[edit]

Film

Year  | Title  | Role  | Director  | Notes

|
|
|
|

2017  | Person to Person | Eugene  | Dustin Guy Defa  |
Good Time | Nick Nikas  | Safdie brothers |
2020  | Pieces of a Woman | Chris  | Kornél Mundruczó |
2021  | Licorice Pizza | Joel Wachs | Paul Thomas Anderson |
2022  | Stars at Noon | CIA Man  | Claire Denis |
2023  | Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. | Herb Simon  | Kelly Fremon Craig |
Oppenheimer | Edward Teller | Christopher Nolan |

Television

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

2016  | Togetherness | Craddock Brother #2  | 1 episode
2022  | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Nari  | Miniseries, 1 episode
2023  | The Curse | Dougie Schecter  | Main role; also co-creator, writer and editor

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

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

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Benny Safdie". AlloCiné. Archived from the original on June 6, 2009. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
2. ^ a b c d Sanneh, Kelefa (December 16, 2019). "The Safdie Brothers' Full-Immersion Filmmaking". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
3. ^ Macaulay, Scott (January 28, 2010). "Daddy Longlegs Josh and Benny Safdie". Filmmaker Magazine. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
4. ^ "Quinzaine 2009". quinzaine-realisateurs.com. Archived from the original on August 24, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
5. ^ Kemmerle, Karen (April 15, 2013). "'Lenny Cooke' Directors Josh and Benny Safdie Explore What Happened to the American Dream". Tribeca Film Festival. Archived from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
6. ^ Harris, Brandon (December 6, 2013). "Hoop Dreams: Josh and Benny Safdie on Lenny Cooke". Filmmaker. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
7. ^ Foundas, Scott (August 28, 2014). "'Heaven Knows What' Review: The Safdies Take a Step Forward". Variety. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
8. ^ "On the Set for 1/8/16: Robert Pattinson Starts on the Feature, 'Good Time' While Michael Fassbender & Marion Cotillard Wrap 'Assassin's Creed'". SSN Insider. January 8, 2016. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
9. ^ "The 2017 Official Selection". Cannes. April 13, 2017. Archived from the original on April 17, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
10. ^ Sharf, Zach (November 21, 2017). "2018 Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 'Get Out' and 'Call Me by Your Name' Dominate". IndieWire. Archived from the original on November 22, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
11. ^ Hipes, Patrick (September 28, 2018). "Safdie Brothers' 'Uncut Gems' Scores Financing From RT Features & Scorsese's Sikelia – Cannes". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 17, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
12. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Blyth, Antonia (February 8, 2020). "Independent Spirit Awards Redresses Female Balance With Wins For Lulu Wang, Olivia Wilde & Julia Reichert – Complete Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 9, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
13. ^ White, Peter (December 10, 2020). "Emma Stone To Star In Comedy Series The Curse From Nathan Fielder & Safdie Brothers For Showtime". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
14. ^ Kohn, Eric (January 20, 2017). "Tragedy, Neurosis, Sundance: The Long, Strange Journey of Person to Person Director Dustin Guy Defa". Indiewire. Archived from the original on January 21, 2017. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
15. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 21, 2020). "Sarah Snook & Benny Safdie Join 'Pieces Of A Woman; Jaime Zevallos & Adrienne Lovette Board A Boy Like That". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 22, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
16. ^ Sneider, Jeff (August 31, 2020). "Benny Safdie to Play Gay Politician in Paul Thomas Anderson's New '70s Movie". Collider. Archived from the original on September 2, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
17. ^ "Stars at Noon". Ad Vitam Distribution. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
18. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 29, 2021). "Obi-Wan Kenobi To Start Production In April; Disney+ Series Cast Includes Joel Edgerton Returning To Star Wars Franchise". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 29, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
19. ^ Sneider, Jeff (April 7, 2021). "Exclusive: Benny Safdie Joins Rachel McAdams in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret Movie". Collider. Archived from the original on April 7, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
20. ^ Grobar, Matt (December 9, 2021). "Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer Adds Florence Pugh, Rami Malek & Benny Safdie". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
21. ^ Robinson, George (August 17, 2010). "Being The Safdie Brothers". The Jewish Week. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
22. ^ Barshad, Amos (August 21, 2017). "The Safdie Brothers Are Classic New York Hustlers". The Fader. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
23. ^ Pfefferman, Naomi (June 17, 2015). "Life as lived by a homeless junkie". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Archived from the original on May 6, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
24. ^ Vance, Kelly (December 25, 2019). "Hoops Hoopla + Precious Stones = Mayhem". East Bay Express. Archived from the original on December 26, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
25. ^ Foley, Euan (June 29, 2020). "A Brief History of the Safdie Brothers". Port Magazine. Archived from the original on July 13, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
26. ^ Zeitchik, Steven (August 10, 2017). "Safdie brothers bring a New York flavor to breakout thriller Good Time". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
27. ^ Shanfield, Ethan (December 13, 2023). "Benny Safdie to Direct Dwayne Johnson in A24 Movie About MMA Legend Mark Kerr". Variety. Retrieved December 13, 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Benny Safdie at IMDb
* Red Bucket Films Archived November 21, 2019, at the Wayback Machine

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie

Feature films|

* The Pleasure of Being Robbed (2008, Josh only)
* Daddy Longlegs (2009)
* Heaven Knows What (2014)
* Good Time (2017)
* Uncut Gems (2019)
* The Smashing Machine (2025, Benny only)

Documentaries|

* Lenny Cooke (2013)

Awards for Benny Safdie

* v
* t
* e

Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Film Editing

* Tom Cross (2018)
* Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie (2019)
* Chloé Zhao (2020)
* Joe Walker (2021)
* Paul Rogers (2022)
* Jennifer Lame (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay

Screenplay
(1996–2009)|

* Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (1996)
* Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland (1997)
* Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard (1998)
* Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor (1999)
* David Mamet (2000)
* Christopher Nolan (2001)
* Charlie and Donald Kaufman (2002)
* Sofia Coppola (2003)
* Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor (2004)
* Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana (2005)
* William Monahan (2006)
* Diablo Cody (2007)
* Simon Beaufoy (2008)
* Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (2009)

Original Screenplay
(2010–present)|

* Christopher Nolan (2010)
* Michel Hazanavicius (2011)
* Rian Johnson (2012)
* Spike Jonze (2013)
* Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness (2014)
* Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (2015)
* Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos (2016)
* Jordan Peele (2017)
* Boots Riley (2018)
* Ronald Bronstein and Benny and Josh Safdie (2019)
* Lee Isaac Chung (2020)
* Wes Anderson (2021)
* Park Chan-wook and Jeong Seo-Gyeong (2022)
* Celine Song (2023)

Adapted Screenplay
(2010–present)|

* Aaron Sorkin (2010)
* Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (2011)
* Chris Terrio (2012)
* John Ridley (2013)
* Gillian Flynn (2014)
* Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (2015)
* Whit Stillman (2016)
* James Ivory (2017)
* Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty (2018)
* Greta Gerwig (2019)
* Charlie Kaufman (2020)
* Jane Campion (2021)
* Sarah Polley (2022)
* Tony McNamara (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Independent Spirit Award for Best Director

1980s|

* Joel Coen / Martin Scorsese (1985)
* Oliver Stone (1986)
* John Huston (1987)
* Ramon Menendez (1988)
* Steven Soderbergh (1989)

1990s|

* Charles Burnett (1990)
* Martha Coolidge (1991)
* Carl Franklin (1992)
* Robert Altman (1993)
* Quentin Tarantino (1994)
* Mike Figgis (1995)
* Joel Coen (1996)
* Robert Duvall (1997)
* Wes Anderson (1998)
* Alexander Payne (1999)

2000s|

* Ang Lee (2000)
* Christopher Nolan (2001)
* Todd Haynes (2002)
* Sofia Coppola (2003)
* Alexander Payne (2004)
* Ang Lee (2005)
* Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (2006)
* Julian Schnabel (2007)
* Tom McCarthy (2008)
* Lee Daniels (2009)

2010s|

* Darren Aronofsky (2010)
* Michel Hazanavicius (2011)
* David O. Russell (2012)
* Steve McQueen (2013)
* Richard Linklater (2014)
* Tom McCarthy (2015)
* Barry Jenkins (2016)
* Jordan Peele (2017)
* Barry Jenkins (2018)
* Safdie brothers (2019)

2020s|

* Chloé Zhao (2020)
* Maggie Gyllenhaal (2021)
* Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (2022)
* Celine Song (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Independent Spirit Award for Best Editing

2010s|

* Nat Sanders (2013)
* Tom Cross (2014)
* Tom McArdle (2015)
* Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders (2016)
* Tatiana S. Riegel (2017)
* Joe Bini (2018)
* Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie (2019)

2020s|

* Chloé Zhao (2020)
* Joi McMillon (2021)
* Paul Rogers (2022)
* Daniel Garber (2023)

* v
* t
* e

National Board of Review Award for Best Original Screenplay

* Charlie Kaufman (2002)
* Jim Sheridan, Kirsten Sheridan and Naomi Sheridan (2003)
* Charlie Kaufman (2004)
* Noah Baumbach (2005)
* Zach Helm (2006)
* Diablo Cody / Nancy Oliver (2007)
* Nick Schenk (2008)
* Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (2009)
* Chris Sparling (2010)
* Will Reiser (2011)
* Rian Johnson (2012)
* Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (2013)
* Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (2014)
* Quentin Tarantino (2015)
* Kenneth Lonergan (2016)
* Paul Thomas Anderson (2017)
* Paul Schrader (2018)
* Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie (2019)
* Lee Isaac Chung (2020)
* Asghar Farhadi (2021)
* Martin McDonagh (2022)
* David Hemingson (2023)

* v
* t
* e

New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director

1935–1950|

* John Ford (1935)
* Rouben Mamoulian (1936)
* Gregory La Cava (1937)
* Alfred Hitchcock (1938)
* John Ford (1939)
* John Ford (1940)
* John Ford (1941)
* John Farrow (1942)
* George Stevens (1943)
* Leo McCarey (1944)
* Billy Wilder (1945)
* William Wyler (1946)
* Elia Kazan (1947)
* John Huston (1948)
* Carol Reed (1949)
* Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1950)

1951–1975|

* Elia Kazan (1951)
* Fred Zinnemann (1952)
* Fred Zinnemann (1953)
* Elia Kazan (1954)
* David Lean (1955)
* John Huston (1956)
* David Lean (1957)
* Stanley Kramer (1958)
* Fred Zinnemann (1959)
* Jack Cardiff / Billy Wilder (1960)
* Robert Rossen (1961)
* No Award (1962)
* Tony Richardson (1963)
* Stanley Kubrick (1964)
* John Schlesinger (1965)
* Fred Zinnemann (1966)
* Mike Nichols (1967)
* Paul Newman (1968)
* Costa-Gavras (1969)
* Bob Rafelson (1970)
* Stanley Kubrick (1971)
* Ingmar Bergman (1972)
* François Truffaut (1973)
* Federico Fellini (1974)
* Robert Altman (1975)

1976–2000|

* Alan J. Pakula (1976)
* Woody Allen (1977)
* Terrence Malick (1978)
* Woody Allen (1979)
* Jonathan Demme (1980)
* Sidney Lumet (1981)
* Sydney Pollack (1982)
* Ingmar Bergman (1983)
* David Lean (1984)
* John Huston (1985)
* Woody Allen (1986)
* James L. Brooks (1987)
* Chris Menges (1988)
* Paul Mazursky (1989)
* Martin Scorsese (1990)
* Jonathan Demme (1991)
* Robert Altman (1992)
* Jane Campion (1993)
* Quentin Tarantino (1994)
* Ang Lee (1995)
* Lars von Trier (1996)
* Curtis Hanson (1997)
* Terrence Malick (1998)
* Mike Leigh (1999)
* Steven Soderbergh (2000)

2001–present|

* Robert Altman (2001)
* Todd Haynes (2002)
* Sofia Coppola (2003)
* Clint Eastwood (2004)
* Ang Lee (2005)
* Martin Scorsese (2006)
* Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (2007)
* Mike Leigh (2008)
* Kathryn Bigelow (2009)
* David Fincher (2010)
* Michel Hazanavicius (2011)
* Kathryn Bigelow (2012)
* Steve McQueen (2013)
* Richard Linklater (2014)
* Todd Haynes (2015)
* Barry Jenkins (2016)
* Sean Baker (2017)
* Alfonso Cuarón (2018)
* Joshua Safdie and Benjamin Safdie (2019)
* Chloé Zhao (2020)
* Jane Campion (2021)
* S. S. Rajamouli (2022)
* Christopher Nolan (2023)

* v
* t
* e

San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Director

* Joel Coen (1996)
* James Cameron (1997)
* John Madden (1998)
* David Lynch (1999)
* Cameron Crowe (2000)
* Terry Zwigoff (2001)
* Jill Sprecher (2002)
* Peter Jackson (2003)
* Clint Eastwood (2004)
* Bennett Miller (2005)
* Clint Eastwood (2006)
* Paul Thomas Anderson (2007)
* Danny Boyle (2008)
* Quentin Tarantino (2009)
* Darren Aronofsky (2010)
* Nicolas Winding Refn (2011)
* Ben Affleck (2012)
* Alfonso Cuarón (2013)
* Dan Gilroy (2014)
* George Miller (2015)
* David Mackenzie (2016)
* Greta Gerwig (2017)
* Debra Granik (2018)
* Benny and Josh Safdie (2019)
* Chloé Zhao (2020)
* Jane Campion (2021)
* Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (2022)
* Martin Scorsese (2023)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Czech Republic
* Netherlands

Other|

* IdRef

*[m.]: married
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