Ira Sachs

Ira Sachs (born November 21, 1965) is an American filmmaker.

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.

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 Rene, 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."

Sachs started his career directing short films such as Vaudeville (1991) and Lady (1993) before making his feature film debut with The Delta (1997).

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 (1997) 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.

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).

Sachs was born in Memphis, Tennessee.

His father grew up in Park City, Utah.

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 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 off 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.

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.

He directed the drama Keep the Lights On which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

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 he directed the drama Little Men (2016) starring Jennifer Ehle and Greg Kinnear.

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.