Ira Sachs | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Sachs at the73rd Berlin International Film Festival | |
| Born | (1965-11-21)November 21, 1965 (age 59) Memphis, Tennessee, United States |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Known for | Full list |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Ira Sachs (born November 21, 1965) is an Americanfilmmaker. Sachs started his career directing short films such asVaudeville (1991) andLady (1993) before making his feature film debut withThe Delta (1997). Sachs later won acclaim for his dramatic independent filmsForty Shades of Blue (2005),Keep the Lights On (2012),Love Is Strange (2014),Little Men (2016), andPassages (2023).
Sachs was born inMemphis, Tennessee. His father grew up inPark City, Utah. Sachs frequently attended theSundance Film Festival when it was titled, The U.S. Film Festival in the 1980s. In 1986 he spent a few months in Paris as a student. Sachs attendedYale University and graduated in 1988 with a degree in literature, with a focus in film studies and film theory.[1] Sachs said he applied to film school atUniversity of Southern California,UCLA andNYU who all rejected him. He moved toNew York City in 1988.[2]
Sachs stated, "The first thing I did in 1989 when I came to New York was worked as an assistant on a film calledLongtime Companion by the directorNorman René, which was about a group of New Yorkers who were confronted with, and confronting, living and dying through theAIDS crisis and it was a very seminal experience, I met a lot of filmmakers who were in the art department or assistants on that film.Kelly Reichardt and I became friends through that film, she was in the art department and I was in the...actually, I quit the art department and got a job as the assistant to the director, which Kelly Reichardt never let me forget."[3]
Sachs started his career writing and directing several short films includingVaudeville (1992) andLady (1993). The shortVaudeville was shot in16 mm and lasted 55 minutes. The story revolves around a traveling theatrical troupe, made up primarily of gay and lesbian performers, mirrors the troubles of a political and social community through its tight-knit existence.[4] WithLady the film was also shot in 16 mm and lasted 28 minutes. The film revolves around the blurred parameters of sexuality, desire, and female identity.[5]
He made his directorial film debut with theLGBTQ coming of age drama filmThe Delta (1997) about a young man exploring hisbisexuality. Sachs spoke to his inspiration of the film saying, "I wrote the film in New York where I was living, but I grew up in Memphis. It was inspired by my memories and my thoughts and my knowledge of the city."[6] The low budget film was shot on16 mm. The film premiered at theSundance Film Festival and later screened at theToronto International Film Festival to positive reviews.
His next film was released in 2005 entitled,Forty Shades of Blue. The film follows a young Russian woman living in Memphis with an aging music producer who comes to question her life when his adult son comes to visit. The film was influenced by the films ofKen Loach andSatyajit Ray. The film won theSundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize. He followed up with the period drama filmMarried Life (2007) based onJohn Bingham's 1953 novelFive Roundabouts to Heaven. The film starredChris Cooper,Patricia Clarkson,Pierce Brosnan, andRachel McAdams. The film received mixed reviews. He directed the dramaKeep the Lights On which premiered at the2012 Sundance Film Festival. The film is based on Sachs' own past relationship withBill Clegg, a literary agent who wrote a memoir about his struggles with addiction,Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man, in 2010.[7] David Rooney described the film as an "immersive portrait of contemporary New York life". The film was nominated for fourIndependent Spirit Awards including for Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.
He returned to film with the relationship dramaLove Is Strange (2014) starringJohn Lithgow,Alfred Molina andMarisa Tomei. The film screened at both the2014 Sundance Film Festival and the64th Berlin International Film Festival.Mark Kermode ofThe Guardian praised the film writing, "Watching this quietly beguiling tale of an ageing gay couple who have been together for decades, I was reminded of the films ofYasujirô Ozu,Woody Allen andMaurice Pialat."[8]
"Sachs has in the past been the poet of middle-aged people's feelings. Now he has gone down a generation, almost into Eric Rohmer territory, into the world of younger people who have much less experience of disappointment and compromise. Or perhaps, in this world of cosmopolitan sophistication, it is Woody Allen territory or Nora Ephron territory"
In 2016 he directed the dramaLittle Men (2016) starringJennifer Ehle andGreg Kinnear.[9] The film premiered at the66th Berlin International Film Festival. Peter Debruge ofVariety gave the film a positive review writing, "Though Sachs' observations do succeed in personalizing the phenomenon, the reason we go — indeed, the reason we care — is becauseLittle Men is also a story about love, and as Sachs has poignantly noted before, love is strange."[10] Sachs received a nomination for theIndependent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay for his work.
With 2019 drama film,Frankie Sachs castIsabelle Huppert,Brendan Gleeson and reunited with Greg Kinnear and Marisa Tomei. The film revolves around an elderly French actress who is in ill health and she decides to spend her last vacation with her family. The film premiered at2019 Cannes Film Festival.[11] In his mixed review, film critic Owen Gleiberman ofVariety compared it to the works ofEric Rohmer writing, "Frankie is a film made with immaculate craftsmanship...Yet for all its naturalistic elegance and lighter-than-air precision, it's an American Rohmer film that doesn't, unfortunately, feel close to being a major Rohmer film."[12]
His next film,Passages, was shot inFrance and was released in 2023.[13][14] It starredFranz Rogowski,Ben Whishaw, andAdèle Exarchopoulos. It depicts a long-time male couple, one of whom has an affair with a woman.Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian praised Sachs film calling it a return to form. Bradshaw compared the film to the works ofEric Rohmer,Woody Allen andNora Ephron and declared, "Sachs strikes gold with sophisticated love triangle".[15] The film received controversy for theMotion Picture Association giving the film anNC-17 rating. Sachs called the rating "A form of cultural censorship that is quite dangerous, particularly in a culture which is already battling, in such extreme ways, the possibility of LGBT imagery to exist".[16]
Sachs submitted these films in theSight & Sound poll as his favorite of all time. He wrote, "The greatest films ever made are for me the ones that have personally affected me most deeply. It is because of their impact that these very same films are the ones that have influenced me the greatest as an artist and filmmaker. These are the films that I hold on to as if each one were a member of my own family. They are the films that have made me who I am, as my father and mother have, my siblings and my cousins and my friends. I would be someone different if I had never seen any one of them. They are a part of me."[17]
Sachs isJewish and gay.[18][19] He describedKeep the Lights On as a semi-autobiographical film.[20] In January 2012, Sachs married artist Boris Torres in New York city, a few days before their twins were born.[21][22] Sachs and Torresco-parent the children with documentary cinematographer and filmmakerKirsten Johnson, who bore them.[23]
He appeared in the German documentaryWie ich lernte die Zahlen zu lieben / How I Learned to Love the Numbers (2014) by Oliver Sechting and Max Taubert.
In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Sachs signed an open letter published in the French newspaperLibération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.[24][25][26]
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Vaudeville | |
| 1994 | Lady | |
| 2000 | 10/26/00 | |
| 2002 | Untitled | |
| 2002 | Get It while You Can | |
| 2009 | Last Address |
As a Director
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | The Delta | |
| 2005 | Forty Shades of Blue | |
| 2007 | Married Life | |
| 2012 | Keep the Lights On | |
| 2014 | Love Is Strange | |
| 2016 | Little Men | |
| 2019 | Frankie | |
| 2023 | Passages[27] | |
| 2025 | Peter Hujar's Day | [28] |
