Ira Sachs (born November 21, 1965) is an American filmmaker. Sachs started his career directing short films such as Vaudeville (1991) and Lady (1993) before making his feature film debut with The Delta (1996). Sachs later won acclaim for his dramatic independent films Forty Shades of Blue (2005), Keep the Lights On (2012), Love Is Strange (2014), Little Men (2016), and Passages (2023).
Early life Sachs was born in Memphis, Tennessee. His father grew up in Park City, Utah. Sachs frequently attended the Sundance 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 attended Yale University and graduated in 1988 with a degree in literature, with a focus in film studies and film theory. Sachs said he applied to film school at University of Southern California, UCLA and NYU who all rejected him. He moved to New York City in 1988.
Sachs stated, "The first thing I did in 1989 when I came to New York was worked as an assistant on a film called Longtime Companion by the director Norman René, which was about a group of New Yorkers who were confronted with, and confronting, living and dying through the AIDS 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."
Career 1991–2013 Sachs started his career writing and directing several short films including Vaudeville (1992) and Lady (1993). The short Vaudeville was shot in 16 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. With Lady 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.
He made his directorial film debut with the LGBTQ coming of age drama film The Delta (1996) about a young man exploring his bisexuality. 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." The low budget film was shot on 16 mm. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and later screened at the Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews.
His next film was Forty Shades of Blue, which was released in 2005. 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 of Ken Loach and Satyajit Ray. The film won the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize. He followed up with the period drama film Married Life (2007) based on John Bingham's 1953 novel Five Roundabouts to Heaven. The film starred Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, Pierce Brosnan, and Rachel McAdams. The film received mixed reviews. He directed the drama Keep the Lights On which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The film is based on Sachs' own past relationship with Bill Clegg, a literary agent who wrote a memoir about his struggles with addiction, Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man, in 2010. David Rooney described the film as an "immersive portrait of contemporary New York life". The film was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards including for Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.
2014–present He returned to film with the relationship drama Love Is Strange (2014) starring John Lithgow, Alfred Molina and Marisa Tomei. The film screened at both the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. Mark Kermode of The 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 of Yasujirô Ozu, Woody Allen and Maurice Pialat."
In 2016, Sachs directed the drama Little Men (2016) starring Jennifer Ehle and Greg Kinnear.Ira Sachs . Filmmakers Profile. Sundance Channel L.L.C. The film premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. Peter Debruge of Variety 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 because Little Men is also a story about love, and as Sachs has poignantly noted before, love is strange." Sachs received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay for his work.
With 2019 drama film Frankie, Sachs cast Isabelle 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 at 2019 Cannes Film Festival. In his mixed review, film critic Owen Gleiberman of Variety compared it to the works of Eric 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."
His next film, Passages, was shot in France and was released in 2023. It starred Franz Rogowski, Ben Whishaw, and Adèle Exarchopoulos. It depicts a long-time male couple, one of whom has an affair with a woman. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian praised Sachs film calling it a return to form. Bradshaw compared the film to the works of Eric Rohmer, Woody Allen and Nora Ephron and declared, "Sachs strikes gold with sophisticated love triangle". The film received controversy due to the Motion Picture Association giving the film an NC-17 rating, prompting its American distributor to release the film unrated. 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".
In 2025, he directed Peter Hujar's Day, starring Ben Whishaw as photographer Peter Hujar and Rebecca Hall as writer Linda Rosenkrantz. Set entirely in Rosenkrantz's New York apartment, the film reenacts a taped 1974 conversation in which Hujar recounts the previous day in detail, touching on encounters with figures like Allen Ginsberg and Susan Sontag. Adapted from a published transcript, the film was praised for its minimalist style and emotional subtlety, with critics noting its reflection on time, creativity, and the poignancy of everyday life.
Sachs wrote and directed The Man I Love, which is scheduled to premiere in the main competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or. The film is set in New York City and stars Rami Malek, Tom Sturridge, Luther Ford, Rebecca Hall, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.
Favorite films Sachs submitted these 10 films as his favorites in The Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time 2022 poll. 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."
The Mouth Agape (1974 France) Je Tu Il Elle (1974 Belgium, France) Vagabond (1985 France) Au hasard Balthazar (1966 France, Sweden) My Little Loves (1974 France) Veronika Voss (1982 West Germany) À Nos Amours (1983 France) Splendor in the Grass (1961 United States) National Velvet (1944 United States) Early Summer (1951 Japan)
Personal life Sachs is Jewish and gay. He described Keep the Lights On as a semi-autobiographical film. In January 2012, Sachs married artist Boris Torres in New York city, a few days before their twins were born. Sachs and Torres co-parent the children with documentary cinematographer and filmmaker Kirsten Johnson, who bore them.
He appeared in the German documentary / 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 newspaper demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.
Filmography Short film Year Title Director Writer 1991 Vaudeville 1994 Lady 2000 10/26/00 2002 Untitled 2002 Get It while You Can 2009 Last Address 2019 Before I Forget (segment in 30/30 Vision: 3 Decades of Strand Releasing)
Feature film Year Title Director Writer Producer 1996 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 2025 Peter Hujar's Day 2026 The Man I Love
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result1997 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize The Delta Rotterdam International Film Festival Outstanding Emerging Talent Gotham Awards Open Palm Award 2005 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Forty Shades of Blue Deauville Film Festival Grand Special Prize 2012 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Keep the Lights On Berlin International Film Festival Teddy Award Chicago International Film Festival Best Feature Cahiers du cinéma Best Film 2013 Independent Spirit Awards Best Feature Best Director Best Screenplay 2014 Cahiers du cinéma Best Film Love Is Strange Deauville Film Festival Grand Special Prize Independent Spirit Awards Best Feature Best Screenplay Gotham Awards Best Feature Audience Awards Satellite Award Best Original Screenplay 2016 Berlin International Film Festival Best Feature Film Little Men Teddy Award Deauville Film Festival Grand Special Prize Edinburgh International Film Festival Audience Award 2017 Independent Spirit Awards Best Screenplay 2019 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Frankie 2025 Berlin International Film Festival Best FeaturePeter Hujar's Day Gijón International Film Festival Best Film 2026Independent Spirit Awards Best Feature Best Director USC Scripter Awards Film
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