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.

Filmography

• 2026Cabaret Boys — Abel
• 2025Judas' Gospel — King Herodes
• 2025Marty Supreme — Ezra Mishkin
• 2024Turn in the Wound — Director
• 2023The Sweet East — Thanks
• 2022Buon Lavoro
• 2022Padre Pio — Director, Writer
• 2022Please Leave a Message: Anthology Film Archives Voicemails Through the Ages
• 2022Soldato sotto la luna — Anicio
• 2021Bleedings
• 2021The Night Burns — Abel
• 2021Zeros and Ones — Director, Screenplay
• 2020Siberia — Screenplay, Director
• 2020Sportin' Life — Self, Director
• 2020Tommaso — Director, Screenplay
• 2019The App
• 2019The Projectionist — Self, Director
• 2018Alive in France — Self, Director, Original Music Composer
• 2018Talking with the Vampires — Director
• 2017Black Butterfly — Pat
• 2017Piazza Vittorio — Himself, Director
• 2017Ultima Chiamata
• 2016Sculpt
• 2015Searching for Padre Pio — Director
• 2014Don Peyote — Taxi Cab Driver, Manhattan Cab Driver
• 2014Pasolini — Director, Idea
• 2014Welcome to New York — Director, Writer
• 20124:44 Last Day on Earth — Writer, Director
• 2012Abel Ferrara in Lucca
• 2012Home Sweet Home
• 2011Happy Life — Executive Producer
• 201042 One Dream Rush — Director
• 2010Daddy Longlegs — Robber
• 2010Mulberry St. — Self, Director
• 2010Napoli, Napoli, Napoli — Director, Writer
• 2009Bandaged — Producer
• 2008Chelsea on the Rocks — Self, Director, Writer
• 2008Go Go Tales — Director, Screenplay
• 2007Never Down — Thanks
• 2006Exes — Caïn
• 2006Mylène Farmer : Music Videos IV — Director
• 2005Mary — Director, Story
• 2005Odyssey in Rome
• 2002White Boy — Producer
• 2001'R Xmas — Director, Screenplay
• 2001Mylene Farmer: Music Videos II & III — Director
• 1999New Rose Hotel — Director, Screenplay
• 1997Subway Stories — Director
• 1997The Blackout — Director, Screenplay, Songs
• 1996The Funeral — Director
• 1995The Addiction — Director
• 1993Body Snatchers — Director
• 1993Dangerous Game — Director
• 1992Bad Lieutenant — Director, Screenplay
• 1990King of New York — Director
• 1989Cat Chaser — Director
• 1987China Girl — Director
• Crime Story — Director
• 1986Crime Story: Pilot — Director
• 1986The Gladiator — Director
• 1984Fear City — Director
• Miami Vice — Director
• 1981Ms .45 — First Rapist (as Jimmy Laine), Director
• 1979The Driller Killer — Reno Miller (as Jimmy Laine), Director, Editor, Songs
• 19769 Lives of a Wet Pussy — Old Man (as Jimmy Laine), Director, Editor
• 1973Could This Be Love — Writer, Director
• 1972The Hold Up — Director, Writer
• 1971Nicky's Film — Man in junkyard, Director, Cinematography
• American Nails — Writer, Director
• Embryo: Beyond the Door
• Not Guilty: For Keith Richards — Director
• Siegfriedsdorf
• The Night Burns

Appearances as themselves (14)

• 2024The Passion According to Béatrice — Self
• 2018A Talent For Trouble — Self
• 2018Wiara — Self
• 2017Plankton Salesmen — Self (archive footage)
• 2017Water and Sugar – Carlo Di Palma: The Colours of Life — Self
• Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown — Self
• 2013Balkan Spirit — Self - Director
• 2010Uncle Bob — Self
• 2007Cannes: All Access — Self
• 2004Nice to Meet You, Please Don't Love Me! — Himself
• 2003Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty — Self
• 1998Abel/Asia — Self
• 1995At Sundance — Self
• Betrayal and Retribution - The Spawn of the Last House on the Left — Self