Azazel Jacobs

Jacobs grew up in a Jewish family in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan.^[2] He is the son of experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs.^[3][4] He attended Bayard Rustin High School.^[5] He received a bachelor's degree in film from SUNY Purchase and a master's degree from the AFI Conservatory.^[6][7] As of 2011^[update], Jacobs lives in Los Angeles.^[5]

His feature The Goodtimeskid (2005), a micro-budget film, gained a cult following and was later re-released by KINO International. Jacobs' film Momma’s Man premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2008.^[8] Upon its release by KINO International, The New York Times declared the film to be "Independent Film defined."^[9] In 2011, Jacobs film Terri starring John C. Reilly, was written by Patrick deWitt, premiered in competition at Sundance and in competition internationally at Locarno & the BFI London Film Festival’s "Film On The Square."^[5]

During 2014 and 2015, Jacobs directed the two seasons of the SKY/HBO show, Doll & Em. He also worked as a writer and producer. In 2017, Jacobs wrote and directed the film The Lovers which was released by A24 to top specialty box office.^[10] The film starred Debra Winger, Tracy Letts, Melora Walters, and Aidan Gillen. Jacobs’ screenplay for The Lovers was nominated for a 2017 Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay. Jacobs produced the pilot of Cherries, written/directed by Diaz Jacobs, which premiered in the episodic section of Sundance 2018.^[11]

In 2020, Jacobs’ film French Exit had its world premiere as the closing night film for the New York Film Festival. The film is based on a novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt and stars Michelle Pfeiffer alongside Lucas Hedges, Tracy Letts, Imogen Poots, Danielle McDonald, Isaach de Bankole, Valerie Mahaffey, Susan Coyne and Daniel Di Tomasso. Pfeiffer plays Francis Price, which Variety called "a role for which she'll be remembered."^[12] It was nominated for multiple awards,^[13] including a 2021 Golden Globe,^[14] and won Best Actress from the Canadian Screen Awards.^[15] The film was released theatrically by Sony Pictures Classics on February 12, 2021, and internationally by Sony Pictures Worldwide on March 18, 2021. French Exit was selected for the 71st Berlin Film Festival in Berlinale Special Gala, having its European premier on June 12, 2021.^[16]

Azazel Jacobs film, His Three Daughters, had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival where it was purchased by Netflix in a worldwide deal for a 2024 release. The film — which he wrote, directed, edited, and produced — stars Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen and Carrie Coon in performances that have been widely hailed as amongst their best. The film received several major honors, including the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Screenplay and the Independent Spirit Awards’ Robert Altman Award, and was named by the National Board of Review as one of the year’s Top Ten Independent Films, in addition to being ranked No. 1 on Rolling Stone's year-end best films list.

Azazel Jacobs appeared on Marc Maron's podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, on March 29, 2021, speaking about art films, The Clash, Mad magazine, and his movies Terri, The Lovers and French Exit. Jacobs directed two episodes of the Facebook series Sorry For Your Loss starring Elizabeth Olsen, and three episodes of Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle, for which he was a consulting producer in its final season.^[17]

On April 19, 2024, an official remake of The Lovers, “Do Aur Do Pyaar”, told from a different perspective and different culture, was released in theaters across India. This production also marks the first remake of an A24 film.

In 2012, CinemaScope magazine cited Azazel as one of the 50 Best Directors Under 50.^[29]

Azazel Jacobs was invited to join The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on June 26th, 2025.^[30]

Azazel visited the Criterion Collection on November 6th, 2024. He selected The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel), Hobson’s Choice (David Lean), La vie de Bohème (Aki Kaurismäki), La Ciénaga (Lucrecia Martel), Girlfriends (Claudia Weill), Tōtem (Lila Avilés), Miracle in Milan (Vittorio De Sica), The Breakfast Club (John Hughes), and Pandora’s Box (G.W. Pabst). ^[31]

Azazel was honored with the 2025 SUNY Purchase Alumni Association Honoree for Outstanding Commitment to the Arts, in recognition of his contributions to film and the creative arts community.^[32]

In 2025, Azazel was among the filmmakers invited to attend a Vatican gathering with Pope Leo XIV focused on cinema and the arts.^[33]

In 2026, Azazel Jacobs served as a juror for the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival