Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Culture

Forward 50 | Josh and Benny Safdie: The hoop dreamers

We have the Safdies to thank for pushing Adam Sandler outside of his sophomoric comfort zone for a career-best performance as gambling-addicted jeweler Howard Ratner. Their newly released film, “Uncut Gems,” elevates the brothers’ already remarkable, neon- and desperation-drenched oeuvre by taking on a different side of New York: The glitzy, Glatt-certified row of Manhattan’s Diamond District. I mean, the Safdies got Princess Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Kevin Garnett in a film together and gave us an Afikomen-search scene where Sandler and Judd Hirsch dunk on Knicks owner (and sometimes frontman for a bad band), James Dolan. What else can one say to that but “Thank you?”

Josh (35) and Benny (33) Safdie grew up shuttling between divorced parents in Queens and Manhattan. Their six films have racked up more than 20 major awards and nominations. (The Safdies did not respond to requests through their agents to fill out our questionnaire.)

Benny and Josh Safdie with Adam Sandler

Benny and Josh Safdie with Adam Sandler

What do they eat after premiering a film? When the film is “Uncut Gems,” and the premiere venue is Manhattan, what else? Deli. Katz’s specifically.

Favorite sport: Basketball, without a doubt. They used to hole up in their childhood bedroom with basketball cards; they try to to watch every Knicks game together; and they made a documentary, “Lenny Cooke,” about a high school phenom who failed to make it big.

Filmmaking Heroes: Per their Criterion Top 10 List, Vittorio De Sica, John Cassavetes, Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”), Robert Altman, Jacques Tati, Robert Bresson and Francois Truffaut.

Any weird Jewish stories? As revealed in a recent New Yorker profile, the Safdies, who were at one time courting Harvey Keitel for the role of Howard and Amar’e Stoudemire to play himself in “Uncut Gems,” had a Seder with both of them. Stoudemire’s hosted. We don’t know who found the Afikomen.

Follow The Safdie Brothers on Twitter @JOSH_BENNY

Read more The Forward’s review of “Uncut Gems”

The Forward’s review of 2017’s “Good Time”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.