Biography
Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) is an American filmmaker, working with his brother, Ethan Coen, together known as the Coen brothers(/ˈkoʊən/). Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), No Country for Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit ...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Winona Ryder: The Ghosts She Called
2022
as Himself
A portrait of the actress Winona Ryder, the great muse of nineties cinema, who, although she has had an atypical and somewhat erratic career, has alwa...

The Tragedy of Macbeth
2021
Producer, Screenplay, Editor
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurre...

The Jesus Rolls
2019
Characters
Hours after his release from prison, Jesus Quintana pairs up with fellow misfits Petey and Marie for a freewheeling joyride of petty crime and romance...

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
2018
Screenplay, Director, Producer
Vignettes weaving together the stories of six individuals in the old West at the end of the Civil War. Following the tales of a sharp-shooting songste...
Blood Simple: Director's Cut Interview with Joel & Ethan Coen
2017
as Self
Interview with Joel & Ethan Coen about blood simple.

Suburbicon
2017
Writer
In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordina...
Shooting 'Blood Simple'
2016
as Self
Telestrator commentary and interview with Joel and Ethan Coen and Barry Sonnenfeld.
Blood Simple: A Conversation with Dave Eggers
2016
as Self
A new conversation between author Dave Eggers and the Coen Brothers about the production, from inception to release, of 'Blood Simple'.

Waffles and Bullet Holes: A Return to Sioux Falls
2016
Executive Producer
Go behind the scenes of the second season of Fargo.

Hail, Caesar!
2016
Writer, Director, Editor
When a Hollywood star mysteriously disappears in the middle of filming, the studio sends their fixer to get him back.
The Way of Folk
2016
In this brand new featurette, executive producer T Bone Burnett and the Coen brothers discuss the history of some of the songs that heard in Inside Ll...
The Way of Folk
2016
Thanks
In this brand new featurette, executive producer T Bone Burnett and the Coen brothers discuss the history of some of the songs that heard in Inside Ll...
The First Hundred Feet, the Last Hundred Feet
2015
as Self
Conversation between filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and the Coen brothers about the evolution of their approach.

Bridge of Spies
2015
Writer
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, ...

Unbroken
2014
Screenplay
A chronicle of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II.

Inside 'Inside Llewyn Davis'
2014
as Self
A 42-minute making-of documentary, "Inside 'Inside Llewyn Davis,'" produced and directed by David Prior. A number of cast and key crew people are inte...

Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of 'Inside Llewyn Davis'
2013
Producer
A concert inspired by the Coen Brothers' film, 'Inside Llewyn Davis,' which is set in the 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene, featuring live per...

Inside Llewyn Davis
2013
Director, Producer, Writer
In Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, gifted but volatile folk musician Llewyn Davis struggles with money, relationships, and his uncertain future.

A Special Day
2012
as Self
At the 60th anniversary of Cannes Film Festival, 34 famous directors are followed by camera.

Gambit
2012
Writer
An art curator decides to seek revenge on his abusive boss by conning him into buying a fake Monet, but his plan requires the help of an eccentric and...

True Grit
2010
Screenplay, Director, Producer
Following the murder of her father by a hired hand, a 14-year-old farm girl sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. Ma...

A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop
2009
Original Story
Wang is a gloomy, cunning and avaricious noodle shop owner in a desert town in China. His neglected, sharp-tongued wife is involved in a secret affair...

A Serious Man
2009
Writer, Editor, Director
It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him....

Burn After Reading
2008
Producer, Director, Editor
When a disc containing memoirs of a former CIA analyst falls into the hands of gym employees, Linda and Chad, they see a chance to make enough money f...
Diary of a Country Sheriff
2008
as Self
No Country for Old Men: Diary of a Country Sheriff

No Country for Old Men: Josh Brolin's Unauthorized Behind the Scenes
2008
as Self
A piece featuring additional cast and crew interview snippets and behind-the-scenes footage. We find comments from Joel and Ethan Coen, Jones, Bardem,...
The Making of 'No Country for Old Men'
2008
as Self
A look behind the scenes of No Country for Old Men (2007), including interviews with cast and crew.

To Each His Own Cinema
2007
Director, Writer
Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmak...

No Country for Old Men
2007
Screenplay, Producer, Director
Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it,...

World Cinema
2007
Director
A cowboy resembling Llewellyn Moss decides between art films at the Aero Theatre.

Paris Je T'aime
2006
Director, Writer
Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories,...

Romance & Cigarettes
2005
Executive Producer
Ironworker Nick lives with his wife, Kitty, and three daughters. When he meets a significantly younger woman, Tula, he starts an affair with her, much...

The Ladykillers
2004
Director, Producer, Screenplay
An eccentric, if not charming Southern professor and his crew pose as a band in order to rob a casino, all under the nose of his unsuspecting landlord...
A Look Inside 'Intolerable Cruelty
2004
as Self
Making of "Intolerable cruelty".

Bad Santa
2003
Executive Producer
You'd better watch out - Santa Claus Willie T. Soke is coming to town and he doesn't care if you've been naughty or nice. Wille's favorite holiday tra...

Intolerable Cruelty
2003
Editor, Screenplay, Director
A revenge-seeking gold digger marries a womanizing Beverly Hills lawyer with the intention of making a killing in the divorce.

Minnesota Nice
2003
as Self
A collection of cast interviews and behind-the-scenes clips from the Coen brother's Academy Award-winning film Fargo.
Making " The Man Who Wasn't There"
2002
as Self
Making of "The Man Who Wasn't There".

The Man Who Wasn't There
2001
Director, Screenplay, Producer
A tale of murder, crime and punishment set in the summer of 1949. Ed Crane, a barber in a small California town, is dissatisfied with his life, but hi...

The Grey Zone
2001
Thanks
The story of Auschwitz's twelfth Sonderkommando — one of the thirteen consecutive "Special Squads" of Jewish prisoners placed by the Nazis in the excr...

Down from the Mountain
2001
as Self
On May 24, 2000, the historic Ryman Auditorium was booked to offer Nashvillians an evening of sublime beauty. Label executives and soundtrack producer...

Down from the Mountain
2001
Producer
On May 24, 2000, the historic Ryman Auditorium was booked to offer Nashvillians an evening of sublime beauty. Label executives and soundtrack producer...
Inside Look: Down from the Mountain
2000
as Self
This is a 'making of documentary short focusing on the documentary feature Down From The Mountain (2000).
The Coen Brothers
2000
as Self
During the promotional campaign for "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" in 1999, BBC broadcast a documentary about the Coen brothers, mainly concerning their...

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
2000
Director, Screenplay, Editor
In the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.

The Making of 'The Big Lebowski'
1998
as Self
A short documentary about the production of "The Big Lebowski" (1998).
Eight
1998
Thanks
A day in the life of an eight-year-old soccer fan who has to come to terms with living in a strange new town and the loss of his father.

The Big Lebowski
1998
Director, Editor, Writer
Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink White Russians, is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski, a wheelc...

Eye of God
1997
Thanks
A small Oklahoma town is stripped of its innocence when one of its boys turns up mute and bloodied by the lakeside. Unable to tell his story, the loca...

Fargo
1996
Director, Screenplay, Editor
Jerry, a small-town Minnesota car salesman is bursting at the seams with debt... but he's got a plan. He's going to hire two thugs to kidnap his wife ...

The Hudsucker Proxy
1994
Director, Writer
A naive business graduate is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.

Barton Fink
1991
Editor, Director, Screenplay
A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.

Miller's Crossing
1990
Screenplay, Director
Set in 1929, a political boss and his advisor have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman.

Darkman
1990
as Oldsmobile Driver (uncredited)
Dr. Peyton Westlake is on the verge of realizing a major breakthrough in synthetic skin when his laboratory is destroyed by gangsters. Having been bur...

Stephen King's World of Horror
1989
as Self
This horror documentary is not the same as the 1986 TV special Stephen King's World of Horror nor the 1988 VHS release of the same name, which runs 45...

Raising Arizona
1987
Director, Screenplay
When a childless couple--an ex-con and an ex-cop--decide to help themselves to one of another family's quintuplets, their lives become more complicate...

Spies Like Us
1985
as Drive-In Security
Two bumbling government employees think they are U.S. spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for nuclear war.

Crimewave
1985
as Reporter at execution (uncredited)
Fed up of his business partner, Ernest Trend hires the services of two exterminators. When things go drastically wrong and they murder the wrong man, ...

Crimewave
1985
Writer
Fed up of his business partner, Ernest Trend hires the services of two exterminators. When things go drastically wrong and they murder the wrong man, ...

Blood Simple
1984
Director, Writer, Producer
The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings,...

The Evil Dead
1981
Assistant Editor
In 1979, a group of college students find a Sumerian Book of the Dead in an old wilderness cabin they've rented for a weekend getaway.
Soundings
1980
Director
A woman engages in sex with her deaf boyfriend while verbally fantasizing about having sex with her boyfriend's best friend, who is listening in the n...

Scarface
N/A
Screenplay
A Mexican immigrant rises to the top of the criminal underworld in Los Angeles.
Jack of Spades
N/A
Director
Production is set to begin in Scotland in July 2025. Further details TBA.