Abel Ferrara

Directing

Abel Ferrara

Born 1951-07-19 · The Bronx, New York, USA

Abel Ferrara (Italian: [ferˈraːra]; born July 19, 1951) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies and his use and redefinition of neo-noir imagery. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best known movies include the New York-set, gritty crime thrillers The Driller Killer (1979), Ms .45 (1981), King of New York (1990), Bad Lieutenant (1992), and The Funeral (1996), chronicling violent crime in urban settings with spiritual overtones. Ferrara also worked in a wide array of genres, including the sci-fi remake Body Snatchers (1993), cyberpunk thriller New Rose Hotel (1998), the religious drama Mary (2005), the black comedy Go Go Tales (2007), and the biopic Pasolini (2014), as well as in several documentary filmmaking projects.

Acting credits

Marty Supreme poster
7.4

Marty Mauser, a young man with a dream no one respects, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.

Marty Supreme

2025

Black Butterfly poster
6.2

Paul is a down-on-his-luck screenwriter who picks up a drifter and offers him a place to stay. However, when the deranged stranger takes Paul hostage and forces him to write, their unhinged relationship brings buried secrets to light.

Black Butterfly

2017

Ms .45 poster
6.7

After being attacked and raped twice in one day, a timid, mute seamstress becomes a violent agent of revenge for wronged women.

Ms .45

1981

Sculpt poster
1.0

Sculpt depicts an international market organized around new shapes and experiences, all the more sought-after as they are almost unattainable. In this world, thought recording and fascination for the inner space are no longer fantasies but the object of a global market that thrives on a quest for these moments of pure intensity, beautiful experiences, thought, and obsession.

Sculpt

2016

Daddy Longlegs poster
6.6

After months of living a solitary existence, Lenny, 34, picks up his kids from school. Every year he spends a couple of weeks with his sons Sage, 9, and Frey, 7. Lenny hosts his kids within a midtown studio apartment in New York. During these two weeks, he must figure out if he wants to act as their father or be their friend. Ultimately, their trip upstate results in complete lawlessness taking over their lives.

Daddy Longlegs

2010

Abel Ferrara in Lucca poster
NR

A simple, modest and faithful record of some moments at the Lucca Film Festival in October 2010, with songs and speeches by Abel Ferrara: trace of the co-presence of two of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, dissident and true sons of Cesare Zavattini’s revolutionary spirit.

Abel Ferrara in Lucca

2012

Abel/Asia poster
9.0

Behind the scenes mini-doc from Asia Argento on Abel Ferrara during the filming of New Rose Hotel.

Abel/Asia

1998

Don Peyote poster
3.8

An ordinary guy delves deep into counterculture, conspiracy theories and the like as he tries to discern the structure of society.

Don Peyote

2014

Don Peyote poster
3.8

An ordinary guy delves deep into counterculture, conspiracy theories and the like as he tries to discern the structure of society.

Don Peyote

2014

Plankton Salesmen poster
NR

A nostalgic look at the birth and death of arthouse film distribution in Russia in the early 2000s. The story of the company Cinema Without Borders and its two founders, Sam Klebanov and Anton Mazurov.

Plankton Salesmen

2017

The Driller Killer poster
5.2

An artist slowly goes insane while struggling to pay his bills, work on his paintings, and care for his two female roommates, which leads him taking to the streets of New York after dark and randomly killing derelicts with a power drill.

The Driller Killer

1979

No artwork available
NR

Massimo and his friends live in the suburbs of Rome. They have a dangerous hobby: stealing from rich young people in discos. One night something goes wrong. Panic spreads and the crowd goes crazy, trampling some people. One guy ends up in a coma. The hunt for those responsible starts. Maximus, on the other hand, goes on with his life as if nothing had happened, among petty theft and new love affairs.

The Night Burns

Buon Lavoro poster
4.0

No synopsis available yet.

Buon Lavoro

2022

Balkan Spirit poster
6.6

Filmmaker Hermann Vaske explores the creative Balkan world in the hopes of understanding the meaning of "Balkan spirit".

Balkan Spirit

2013

Cannes: All Access poster
3.2

From its simple beginnings in 1939 in a sleepy beach town in the south of France, the prestigious Cannes Film Festival has become the must-attend red carpet event of the year. Filmmaker Richard Schickel's fascinating documentary captures the glitz and glamour of the festival's incredible 60-year run with archival footage and unforgettable moments. Hollywood's biggest names including Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Sharon Stone and Harvey Weinstein talk about the politics, madness, and thrills of competing for one of the industry's highest honors - the coveted Palme d'Or - and what it's like to be at the most fabulous festival by the sea.

Cannes: All Access

2007

The App poster
3.0

Loving girlfriend, family fortune, breakout movie role: he's got it all. Until an app awakens a powerful new yearning. While in Rome to shoot his first movie, actor and industrial heir Niccolò becomes obsessed with the dating app "US" that sends him into a self-destructive spiral.

The App

2019

Exes poster
4.6

Virginie, a very famous writer, is caught up in her past. A serial killer with inhuman cruelty, Exes, the hero of his first novel, wants to take revenge on her.

Exes

2006

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Siegfriedsdorf

At Sundance poster
5.8

A group portrait of filmmakers attend the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Featuring Matthew Harrison, Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Todd Haynes, Greg Araki, Abel Ferrara, Atom Egoyan, James Gray, Robert Redford, Haskell Wexler, among many others. Co-directed by Amy Hobby. [Filmed in Pixelvision and blown-up to evocatively grainy 16mm.]

At Sundance

1995

Water and Sugar – Carlo Di Palma: The Colours of Life poster
5.2

An account of the life and work of legendary cinematographer and director Carlo Di Palma (1925-2004) and an emotional journey through the great moments of cinema, from Italian neorealism to the masterpieces of Woody Allen.

Water and Sugar – Carlo Di Palma: The Colours of Life

2017

Ultima Chiamata poster
NR

A man wakes up in a strange place. Peeled walls, a bare, cold and damp room. He doesn't understand where he is. He has severe pain especially in the head, tries to open the door but it's locked, tries to call someone but nobody answers. He is a prisoner. A nightmare begins for him in which he will have to go through a path of understanding to finally get to understand what really happened.

Ultima Chiamata

2017

Chelsea on the Rocks poster
5.7

Chelsea on the Rocks celebrates the personalities and artistic voices that have emerged from New York’s legendary Chelsea Hotel. Once considered an untouchable, impenetrable tower for writers, artists, musicians and mavericks, it has been recently claimed as a boutique hotel venture for a management company that shows disregard for its formidable history. –Cannes Film Festival

Chelsea on the Rocks

2008

Piazza Vittorio poster
6.4

Vivid mosaic/portrait of Rome’s biggest public square, Piazza Vittorio, featuring talks with African musicians and restaurant workers, Chinese barkeeps and relocated eastern Europeans, homeless men and women, artists, actors, and many others.

Piazza Vittorio

2017

Judas' Gospel poster
6.5

An innovative approach in retelling the tale of Judas Iscariot, known for his biblical betrayal of Jesus when he disclosed his whereabouts for 30 pieces of silver. About to die, Judas reflects on his life and his relationship with Jesus and the disciples.

Judas' Gospel

2025

Behind the camera

King of New York poster
6.8

A former drug lord returns from prison determined to wipe out all his competition and distribute the profits of his operations to New York's poor and lower classes in this stylish and ultra violent modern twist on Robin Hood.

King of New York

1990

Bad Lieutenant poster
7.0

While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness.

Bad Lieutenant

1992

Bad Lieutenant poster
7.0

While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness.

Bad Lieutenant

1992

Ms .45 poster
6.7

After being attacked and raped twice in one day, a timid, mute seamstress becomes a violent agent of revenge for wronged women.

Ms .45

1981

Body Snatchers poster
6.2

When Environmental Protection Agency inspector Steve Malone travels to a remote military base in order to check for toxic materials, he brings his family along for the ride. After arriving at the base, his teenage daughter Marti befriends Jean Platt, daughter of the base's commander, General Platt. When people at the base begin acting strangely, Marti becomes convinced that they are slowly being replaced by plant-like aliens.

Body Snatchers

1993

New Rose Hotel poster
5.3

A corporate raider and his henchman use a chanteuse to lure a scientific genius away from his employer and family.

New Rose Hotel

1999

New Rose Hotel poster
5.3

A corporate raider and his henchman use a chanteuse to lure a scientific genius away from his employer and family.

New Rose Hotel

1999

Zeros and Ones poster
4.7

Called to Rome to stop an imminent terrorist bombing, a soldier desperately seeks news of his imprisoned brother — a rebel with knowledge that could thwart the attack. Navigating the capital's darkened streets, he races to a series of ominous encounters to keep the Vatican from being blown to bits.

Zeros and Ones

2021

Zeros and Ones poster
4.7

Called to Rome to stop an imminent terrorist bombing, a soldier desperately seeks news of his imprisoned brother — a rebel with knowledge that could thwart the attack. Navigating the capital's darkened streets, he races to a series of ominous encounters to keep the Vatican from being blown to bits.

Zeros and Ones

2021

The Funeral poster
6.8

After the funeral of one of their own, a criminal family decides to embark on an emotionally unnerving journey in an attempt to exact bloody revenge.

The Funeral

1996

The Addiction poster
6.5

A vampiric doctoral student tries to follow the philosophy of a nocturnal comrade and control her thirst for blood.

The Addiction

1995

Mary poster
5.8

The filming of a movie about Jesus’ death deeply affects three people — an egotistical director who cast himself as Christ, the actress playing Mary Magdalene who cannot bring herself to leave Bethlehem and a TV journalist whose spiritual doubts start to consume him.

Mary

2005

Fear City poster
5.4

Strippers in Manhattan are being stalked and murdered by a psycho. A hard-nosed police detective and a conflicted ex-boxer-turned-private-eye, hired by the strip club owners, set out to find him before he strikes again.

Fear City

1984

Siberia poster
4.9

Clint is a dead man who lives alone in a frozen tundra. However, this isolation cannot bring either evasion or peace. One night, he begins a journey where he must confront his dreams, memories, and visions, crossing the darkness into the light.

Siberia

2020

Siberia poster
4.9

Clint is a dead man who lives alone in a frozen tundra. However, this isolation cannot bring either evasion or peace. One night, he begins a journey where he must confront his dreams, memories, and visions, crossing the darkness into the light.

Siberia

2020

4:44 Last Day on Earth poster
4.8

A look at how a painter and a successful actor spend their last day together before the world comes to an end.

4:44 Last Day on Earth

2012

4:44 Last Day on Earth poster
4.8

A look at how a painter and a successful actor spend their last day together before the world comes to an end.

4:44 Last Day on Earth

2012

Padre Pio poster
5.0

It is the end of World War I and the young Italian soldiers are making their way back to San Giovanni Rotondo, a land of poverty, with a tradition of violence and submission to the iron-clad rule of the church and its wealthy landowners. Families are desperate, the men are broken, albeit victorious. Padre Pio also arrives, at a remote Capuchin monastery, to begin his ministry, evoking an aura of charisma, saintliness and epic visions of Jesus, Mary and the Devil himself. The eve of the first free elections in Italy sets the stage for a massacre with a metaphorical dimension: an apocalyptic event that changes the course of history.

Padre Pio

2022

Padre Pio poster
5.0

It is the end of World War I and the young Italian soldiers are making their way back to San Giovanni Rotondo, a land of poverty, with a tradition of violence and submission to the iron-clad rule of the church and its wealthy landowners. Families are desperate, the men are broken, albeit victorious. Padre Pio also arrives, at a remote Capuchin monastery, to begin his ministry, evoking an aura of charisma, saintliness and epic visions of Jesus, Mary and the Devil himself. The eve of the first free elections in Italy sets the stage for a massacre with a metaphorical dimension: an apocalyptic event that changes the course of history.

Padre Pio

2022

The Blackout poster
5.8

A debauched Hollywood movie actor tries to piece together one wild night in Miami years earlier which remains a drug-induced blur, and soon finds out that some questions about his past are best left unanswered.

The Blackout

1997

The Blackout poster
5.8

A debauched Hollywood movie actor tries to piece together one wild night in Miami years earlier which remains a drug-induced blur, and soon finds out that some questions about his past are best left unanswered.

The Blackout

1997

Go Go Tales poster
5.6

A financial struggle between owners of a go-go club threatens its future.

Go Go Tales

2008

Go Go Tales poster
5.6

A financial struggle between owners of a go-go club threatens its future.

Go Go Tales

2008

Dangerous Game poster
5.7

A New York film director, working on his latest movie in Los Angeles, begins to reflect the actions in his movie and real life, especially when he begins an affair with the lead actress.

Dangerous Game

1993