Early work (1971–1981) Ferrara studied at the
San Francisco Art Institute; one of his teachers and influences there was the famous
avant-garde director
Rosa von Praunheim. In the early 1970s, while still in art school, Ferrara directed a number of independently produced short films which included
The Hold Up and
Could This Be Love. Finding himself out of work after leaving film school in 1976, Ferrara directed his first feature: a
pornographic film titled
9 Lives of a Wet Pussy, using a pseudonym. Starring with his then-girlfriend, he recalled having to step in front of the camera for one scene to perform in a hardcore sex scene: "It's bad enough paying a guy $200 to fuck your girlfriend, then he can't get it up." Ferrara first drew a
cult following with his second feature film, an
exploitation movie titled
The Driller Killer (1979), an urban
slasher film about an artist (played by the director himself) who goes on a killing spree with a
power drill. In the United Kingdom, the movie made it on a list of
"video nasties" created by moral crusaders that led to prosecutions under the
Obscene Publications Act 1959 and to the passing of
new legislation which forced all video releases to appear before the
British Board of Film Classification for rating. The director's next feature was
Ms .45 (1981), a "
rape revenge" movie about a mute garment worker turned vigilante (
Zoë Tamerlis). Reviewers called it "a provocative, disreputable movie, well worth seeing".
Rise to international fame (1984–1998) In 1984, Ferrara was hired to direct
Fear City, starring
Melanie Griffith,
Billy Dee Williams,
Rae Dawn Chong and
María Conchita Alonso. When a "
kung fu slasher" stalks and murders young women who work in a seedy
Times Square strip club, a disgraced boxer portrayed by
Tom Berenger uses his fighting skills to defeat the killer. Ferrara worked on two
Michael Mann-produced television series, directing the two-hour pilot for
Crime Story (aired September 18, 1986), starring
Dennis Farina, and two episodes of the series
Miami Vice.
King of New York (1990) stars
Christopher Walken as gangster Frank White,
Laurence Fishburne,
Wesley Snipes,
David Caruso and
Giancarlo Esposito. The movie received overall mixed reviews, but Ferrara was praised for his strong command of mood and style. Critic
Roger Ebert wrote, "What Ferrara needs for his next film is a sound screenplay."
Bad Lieutenant (1992) credits Ferrara and actress
Zoë Tamerlis, who plays the woman who helps the Lieutenant
freebase heroin in the movie, as co-writers of the script, but Tamerlis claimed that she wrote it alone.
Bad Lieutenant received
Spirit Awards nominations for Best Director and Best Actor, and despite its controversial content, the movie was lauded by critics. Director
Martin Scorsese named it one of his top 10 films of the 1990s. In 1993, Ferrara was hired for two Hollywood studio movies: another remake of
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, titled
Body Snatchers (1993), for
Warner Bros.; and
Dangerous Game (1993), starring
Keitel and
Madonna, for
MGM. In the mid-1990s Ferrara directed two well-received independent movies:
The Addiction (1995), photographed in black-and-white, stars
Lili Taylor as a philosophy student who succumbs to a
vampire as she studies the problem of evil and philosophical
pedagogy, represented by the most violent events of the 20th century. The movie also features
Christopher Walken,
Annabella Sciorra,
Edie Falco,
Kathryn Erbe and
Michael Imperioli. It was co-produced by
Russell Simmons.
The Funeral (1996), starring Walken, Sciorra,
Chris Penn,
Isabella Rossellini,
Benicio del Toro,
Vincent Gallo and
Gretchen Mol, was nominated for five
Independent Spirit Awards including
Best Director. Following the success of
The Funeral, Ferrara had an infamous interview with
Conan O'Brien on October 23, 1996. Ferrara was believed to be intoxicated and struggled through the interview, often slurring and covering his face as well as waving around a cigarette. O'Brien would later state that Ferrara was his "worst guest ever". Eventually, O'Brien revealed to Ferrara's frequent collaborator
Willem Dafoe that Ferrara "ran away" and that the segment producer had to "run down the street" to catch him and bring him back to the set. Dafoe said to O'Brien, "You did your best ... and so did he!" After making
The Blackout (1997) with
Matthew Modine and
Dennis Hopper, he contributed to the
omnibus television movie
Subway Stories. Ferrara then made
New Rose Hotel (1998), which reunited him with Christopher Walken.
In Europe (2001–present) Ferrara returned three years later with ''
'R Xmas (2001), which starred Drea de Matteo and Ice-T. He recorded commentaries for Driller Killer
and King of New York
and made Mary (2005), a religious-themed multi-plot movie starring Juliette Binoche, Matthew Modine, Forest Whitaker, Heather Graham, Marion Cotillard, and Stefania Rocca. Mary'' premiered at the
Venice Film Festival in 2005. It swept the awards ceremony, garnering the Grand Jury Prize, SIGNIS Award and two others. It was shown at the
Toronto International Film Festival. In 2007, Ferrara directed
Go Go Tales a comedy with Modine,
Bob Hoskins and
Willem Dafoe that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival but was not shown in the United States until a special screening at the
Anthology Film Archives in 2011. In 2009,
Jekyll and Hyde was set to star Forest Whitaker and
50 Cent. After disagreements with Warner Bros., the movie was shelved in 2010. The docudrama received little attention and poor reviews but
Werner Herzog's reboot
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans was selected for competition at the prestigious festival. Asked about the Herzog film, Ferrara was quoted widely saying "I wish these people die in hell". In September 2011,
4:44 Last Day on Earth, starring
Willem Dafoe and Shanyn Leigh, premiered at the main competition of the
68th Venice International Film Festival. Ferrara's
Welcome to New York, a fictionalized version of the
Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault case starring
Gérard Depardieu and
Jacqueline Bisset, was released on
video on demand in 2014. Ferrara's
Pasolini (2014) about the titular
Italian director stars
Willem Dafoe. After a 4-year long hiatus, Ferrara came back in 2019 with
Tommaso, a new feature starring Dafoe and set in Rome. The film had its world premiere at the
72nd Cannes Film Festival on 20 May 2019. It was released in the United States by
Kino Lorber. The following year, with
Siberia (2020), Ferrara and Dafoe collaborated for the sixth time. Inspired by
Carl Jung's
The Red Book, the script was written by Ferrara and
Chris Zois. The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the
70th Berlin International Film Festival, on 24 February 2020. It was released in the United States by
Lionsgate in 2021. Shortly after Ferrara directed the documentary ''
Sportin' Life, about the beginning of quarantine measures in Europe a few days after the Berlinale premiere of Siberia'', during the start of the
COVID-19 pandemic. The documentary had its world premiere at the
77th Venice Film Festival on 4 September 2020. Since 2020 he has interpreted
Gabriele Tinti's poetry giving voice to the masterpieces in the
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica,
Pinacoteca di Brera,
Museo Nazionale di San Marco,
Ca' d'Oro,
Musée Jacquemart-André and
Museo Nazionale Romano In August 2021,
Zeros and Ones, starring
Ethan Hawke, had its world premiere at the main competition of the
74th Locarno Film Festival, during the festival Ferrara won the
Best Direction Award. The film was released in limited theaters and on demand by
Lionsgate on November 19, 2021. In 2022, Ferrara's
Padre Pio, starring
Shia LaBeouf and
Asia Argento, premiered at the "
Giornate degli Autori" section of the
79th Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2022. The film was released in the
United States by
Gravitas Ventures on June 2, 2023. During the film's production, LeBeouf notably converted to
Catholicism. == Personal life ==