Paul Joseph Schrader (/ˈʃreɪdər/; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scorsese, writing or co-writing Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Schrader has also worked extensively as a director: his 23 films include Blue Collar (1978), Hardcore (1979), American Gigolo (1980), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Light Sleeper (1992), Affliction (1997), and First Reformed (2017), with the last of these earning him his first Academy Award nomination. Schrader's work frequently depicts "man in a room" stories which feature isolated, troubled men confronting an existential crisis. Raised in a strict Calvinist family, Schrader attended Calvin College before pursuing film studies at UCLA on the encouragement of film critic Pauline Kael. He then worked as a film scholar and critic, publishing the book Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer (1972) before transitioning to screenwriting in 1974. The success of Taxi Driver in 1976 brought greater attention to his work, and Schrader began directing his own films, beginning with Blue Collar (co-written with his brother, Leonard Schrader). Schrader has described three of his recent films as a loose trilogy: First Reformed (2017), The Card Counter (2021), and Master Gardener (2022). Description above from the Wikipedia article Paul Schrader, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

• 2026The Basics of Philosophy — Director, Writer
• 2025Masterclass di Paul Schrader al Laceno d'Oro 48 — Self - filmmaker, guest
• 2025Vulcanizadora — Thanks
• 2024Oh, Canada — Screenplay, Director
• 2023Master Gardener — Director, Writer
• American Gigolo — Characters, Executive Consultant
• 2022There Are No Saints — Executive Producer, Screenplay
• 2021The Card Counter — Director, Writer
• 2020Paul Schrader: Man in a Room — Self, Thanks
• 2018First Reformed — Writer, Director
• 2016Dog Eat Dog — El Greco, Director
• 2015American Johns — Thanks
• 2014Dying of the Light — Director, Screenplay
• 2013The Canyons — Director
• 2013Venice 70: Future Reloaded — Self (segment Paul Schrader), Director
• 2012Walk of Fame — Thanks
• 2008Adam Resurrected — Director
• 2007The Walker — Director, Screenplay
• 2005Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist — Director
• 2002Auto Focus — Director
• 1999Bringing Out the Dead — Screenplay
• 1999Forever Mine — Writer, Director
• 1998Affliction — Director, Screenplay
• 1997Touch — Director, Screenplay
• 1996City Hall — Writer
• 1995Untitled: New Blue — Himself (uncredited), Director, Writer
• 1994Witch Hunt — Director
• 1992Light Sleeper — Director, Writer
• 1990The Comfort of Strangers — Director
• 1988Patty Hearst — Director
• 1988The Last Temptation of Christ — Screenplay
• 1987Light of Day — Screenplay, Director
• 1986The Mosquito Coast — Screenplay
• 1985Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters — Writer, Director
• 1982Cat People — Director, Screenplay
• 1980American Gigolo — Director, Writer
• 1980Raging Bull — Screenplay
• 1979Hardcore — Writer, Director
• 1979Old Boyfriends — Writer, Executive Producer
• 1978Blue Collar — Director, Screenplay
• The South Bank Show
• 1977Rolling Thunder — Original Story, Screenplay
• 1976Obsession — Screenplay, Story
• 1976Taxi Driver — Writer
• 1974The Yakuza — Screenplay
• Amber Light — Writer
• Life from the Other Side — Screenplay
• Non Compos Mentis — Director, Writer
• The Doors of Perception — Director, Writer
• Three Guns at Dawn — Writer

Appearances as themselves (44)

• 2026Best Served Cold: How a Revenge Film was Buried for Decades — Himself
• Mr. Scorsese — Self
• 2025Ritratti di cinema — Self
• 2022The Book of Harth — Self
• The Last Movie Stars — Self
• 2020Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Business — Self
• 2020The Beauty of Horror: Paul Schrader on The Comfort of Strangers — Self
• 2019What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael — Self
• 2017We Blew It — Self
• 2016Ken San — Self
• 2016Taxi Driver: 40th Anniversary Cast Q&A — Self
• Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter — Self
• 2015Hitchcock/Truffaut — Self
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self - Guest
• 2013Milius — Self
• 2013Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic — Self
• 2011Eames: The Architect and the Painter — Self
• The Story of Film: An Odyssey — Self
• 2010Godard Made in USA — Self
• 2009Tales from the Script — Self
• 2009The Rules of Film Noir — Self
• 2008Murnau, Borzage and Fox — Self
• 2008Schrader's Exorcism — Self
• 2007God's Lonely Man — Self
• 2007Influence And Appreciation: A Martin Scorsese Tribute — Self
• 2007Producing 'Taxi Driver' — Himself
• 2006Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light — Self
• 2005Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That — Self
• 2005Raging Bull: Before the Fight — Self
• 2004Männer im Trenchcoat, Frauen im Pelz — Self
• 2004Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade — Self
• 2003A Decade Under the Influence — Self
• 2003Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood — Self
• 2003Playboy: Sex at 24 Frames Per Second — Self
• 2002Cat People: An Intimate Portrait by Paul Schrader — Self
• 1999Making 'Taxi Driver' — Self
• 1997Birth of a Nation — Self
• Scene by Scene — Self
• 1993Talking with Ozu — Self
• 1990Hollywood Mavericks — Self
• 1990Pictures of Europe — Self
• 1990Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer — Self
• 1985Inside Mishima — Self
• 1984The Road to Bresson — Self