Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara (born July 19, 1951) is an American filmmaker living in Rome, known for the provocative, explicit and controversial content in his movies and his use and redefinition of neo-noir imagery. Both indipendent and mainstream, some of his best known movies include the New York-set, gritty crime thrillers Ms .45, King of New York, Bad Lieutenant and the black comedy Go Go Tales (2007), became knowed for a explicit bestiality scene between the main actress Asia Argento and a rottweiller.
He has worked with some many actors, prefering the one of all Willem Dafoe, who collaborations goes since the 1990s. He has also worked with many italian celebrities as Asia Argento, Chiara Caselli, Valerio Mastandrea, Stefania Rocca and Riccardo Scarmarcio.
He also worked in the porn genre, and directed documentaries, music videos and other kind of media projects. He is a big fan of Pier Paolo Pasolini, whom movie with Dafoe Pasolini (that include an explicit blowjob scene) of 2014 is dedicated, and he's a longtime religious afascinando, dedicated mostly of his movies to religion and subtopics as death, nuclear holocaust and grief.
Ferrara is married to Cristina Chiriac and they have a daughter, Anna. He was previously married to Nancy Ferrara. Ferrara has two adopted children: Endira and Lucy. He was also in a romantic relationship with actress Shanyn Leigh.
Filmography[edit]
Short film[edit]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Actor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Nicky's Film | Yes | Yes | ||
| 1972 | The Hold Up | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1973 | Could It Be Love | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2010 | OneDreamRush: Dream Piece | Yes | |||
| 2012 | No Saints | Yes | |||
| My Big-Assed Mother | Yes | Role: Charles Bukowski | |||
| 2017 | Hans | Yes | Yes |
Feature films[edit]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy | Yes | Pornographic film
Credited as Jimmy Boy L. | |
| 1979 | The Driller Killer | Yes | ||
| 1981 | Ms .45 | Yes | ||
| 1984 | Fear City | Yes | ||
| 1987 | China Girl | Yes | ||
| 1989 | Cat Chaser | Yes | ||
| 1990 | King of New York | Yes | ||
| 1992 | Bad Lieutenant | Yes | Yes | |
| 1993 | Body Snatchers | Yes | ||
| Dangerous Game | Yes | |||
| 1995 | The Addiction | Yes | ||
| 1996 | The Funeral | Yes | ||
| 1997 | The Blackout | Yes | Yes | |
| 1998 | New Rose Hotel | Yes | Yes | |
| 2001 | 'R Xmas | Yes | Yes | |
| 2005 | Mary | Yes | Yes | |
| 2007 | Go Go Tales | Yes | Yes | |
| 2011 | 4:44 Last Day on Earth | Yes | Yes | |
| 2014 | Welcome to New York | Yes | Yes | |
| Pasolini | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2019 | Tommaso | Yes | Yes | |
| 2020 | Siberia | Yes | Yes | |
| 2021 | Zeros and Ones | Yes | Yes | |
| 2022 | Padre Pio | Yes | Yes |
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy | Old Man | |
| 1979 | The Driller Killer | Reno | Credited as "Jimmy Laine" |
| 1981 | Ms .45 | 1st rapist | |
| 1993 | Body Snatchers | ||
| 2006 | Exes | Cain | |
| 2009 | Daddy Longlegs | Robber | |
| 2014 | Don Peyote | Taxi cab driver | |
| 2016 | Sculpt | ||
| 2017 | Black Butterfly | Pat | |
| 2018 | Buon Lavoro |
Documentaries[edit]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Himself | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Not Guilty: For Keith Richards | Yes | Short | |||
| 2008 | Chelsea on the Rocks | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2009 | Napoli Napoli Napoli | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2010 | Mulberry St. | Yes | ||||
| 2017 | Alive in France | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Piazza Vittorio | Yes | Yes | ||||
| 2018 | Talking with the Vampires | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short | |
| 2019 | The Projectionist | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2020 | Sportin' Life | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Television[edit]
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Crime Story | Pilot episode |
| 2012 | Pizza Connection | Web series |
TV movies
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | The Gladiator | |
| 1988 | The Loner | |
| 1997 | Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground | Segment "Love on the A Train" |
Music video[edit]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Mylène Farmer: California | Yes | |
| 1999 | Ben Folds Five: Don't Change Your Plans | Yes | |
| 2004 | Abenaa: "Rain" | Yes | Yes |
Awards and nominations[edit]
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Body Snatchers | Palme d'Or | Nominated | |
| 1993 | Bad Lieutenant | Independent Spirit Award for Best Director | Nominated | |
| 1995 | The Addiction | Golden Berlin Bear | Nominated | |
| 1996 | The Funeral | Independent Spirit Award for Best Director | Nominated | |
| 1998 | The Blackout | Worst Director - Yoga Awards | Won | |
| 2001 | R' Xmas | Un Certain Regard | Nominated |
