A young man with a dream no one respects, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness in Director Josh Safdie’s sports comedy-drama, Marty Supreme.

Loosely based on real-life 1950s table tennis hustler and champion Marty Reisman, Safdie’s film follows a fictionalized character named Marty Mauser, a cocky and ambitious shoe salesman who uses his table tennis skills to hustle his way toward greatness and escape his mundane life.

On December 7, after the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles, Safdie discussed the making of Marty Supreme during a Q&A moderated by Director Ben Affleck (Air). He is also scheduled to speak about the film following the New York screening on December 20.

During the Los Angeles conversation, Safdie spoke his pursuit of “big feelings” in his films.

“You never are satisfied, ever. Even when you have a great take, you’re not satisfied. I am only satisfied when I’m feeling something, and I chase big feelings. My daughter talks about big feelings all the time, ‘Daddy I’m having big feelings,” and I have big feelings, so I care about – like when Marty and Wally are dancing outside that car, that’s so beautiful to me, the idea of connecting with a friend and feeling like you’re the only two people on planet earth? That’s rare. That’s awesome. That’s human nature. So, when I’m there on set and the actors are feeling something and I’m feeling it with them, in those moments I’m having a big feeling. But there’s so much going on. ‘How am I going to get 15 set ups before lunch? How am I going to do that?’ I was able to transfer enough enthusiasm, that’s a Director’s job, transferring enthusiasm. I think I had an impassioned crew. I think that they all felt what we were doing.”

Alongside his brother Benny, Safdie’s other directorial credits include the feature films Uncut Gems, Good Time, Heaven Knows What, Daddy Longlegs and The Pleasure of Being Robbed; and the documentary Lenny Cooke. He has been a DGA member since 2018.