Abel Ferrara publishes memoir and continues making films from Rome

Abel Ferrara, the Bronx-born director known for gritty New York films, lives in Rome and has published a diaristic memoir, Scene. The 74-year-old has a credited role in the Safdie brothers–helmed film Marty Supreme and continues to work on projects in Italy.

Ferrara is best known for films such as King of New York, Bad Lieutenant and Ms .45, and has been living in Rome for over a decade, making movies there with a guerrilla energy while saying he will not make a film unless he has final cut. In Scene he recounts a long struggle with heroin addiction, including a last use in a cafe bathroom before committing himself to rehab; he writes that he got sober in 2012 at a facility near Naples. Some of his recent films, including Turn in the Wound and Zeros and Ones, have encountered distribution problems.

The memoir arrives as Ferrara is experiencing renewed attention: he appears as a vengeful gangster in Marty Supreme, a role Josh Safdie said he had in mind for him, and Ferrara is preparing American Nails, scheduled to start filming soon in Bari. He is also a father to a 10-year-old daughter, Anna, and has written openly about repairing relationships and the limits of what his memoir might do for his family; the release and reach of some of his newer work, meanwhile, remain uncertain.

Key Topics

Culture, Abel Ferrara, Scene, Marty Supreme, Rome, Naples