

Todd Haynes
Director · Actor · WriterTodd Haynes (/heɪnz/; born January 2, 1961; Los Angeles) is an American filmmaker. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender roles. Haynes first gained public attention with his controversial short film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987), which chronicles singer Karen Carpenter's life and death, using Barbie dolls as actors. Superstar became a cult classic. Haynes's feature directorial debut, Poison (1991), a provocative exploration of AIDS-era queer perceptions and subversions, established him as a figure of a new transgressive cinema. Poison won the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize and is regarded as a seminal work of New Queer Cinema. Haynes received further acclaim for his second feature film, Safe (1995), a symbolic portrait of a housewife who develops multiple chemical sensitivity. Safe was later voted the best film of the 1990s by The Village Voice Film Poll. His next feature, Velvet Goldmine (1998), is a tribute to the 1970s glam rock era. The film received the Special Jury Prize for Best Artistic Contribution at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. Haynes gained acclaim and a measure of mainstream success with Far from Heaven (2002) earning his first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. He continued to direct critically lauded films such as I'm Not There (2007), Carol (2015), Wonderstruck (2017) and Dark Waters (2019). He directed his first feature-length documentary, The Velvet Underground (2021). Haynes directed and co-wrote the HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce (2011) for which he was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards.
More details at TMDB
KNOWN FOR
FILMOGRAPHY
ACTOR18

Barbara Forever
2026
Self (archive footage)

Art-House America: Austin Film Society
2023
Self

Douglas Sirk – Hope as in Despair
2022
Self

At the Video Store
2019
Self
- Dark Waters: The Cost of Being a Hero
Dark Waters: The Cost of Being a Hero
2019
Self

Xavier Dolan: Bound to Impossible
2016
Self

Great Directors
2009
Self
- Notes on the Death of Kodachrome
Notes on the Death of Kodachrome
2007
Self

Eine Zärtlichkeit wie bei Sirk - Todd Haynes über Fassbinder und das Melodram
2006
Self

Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
2006
Self

Infinite Pleasure: Todd Haynes on Max Ophuls' Le Plaisir
2006
Interviewee
- Maternal Overdrive
Maternal Overdrive
2006
Self

At Sundance
1995
Self

Swoon
1992
Phrenology Head
- He Was Once
He Was Once
1989
Randy

Natural History
1989
Child

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
1987
Todd Donovan

Assassins: A Film Concerning Rimbaud
1985
DIRECTOR21

May December
2023
Director

Image Book
2023
Director

The Velvet Underground
2021
Director

Dark Waters
2019
Director

Wonderstruck
2017
Director

Carol
2015
Director

Six by Sondheim
2013
Director

I'm Not There
2007
Director

Sonic Youth: Corporate Ghost (The Videos: 1990-2002)
2004
Director

Far from Heaven
2002
Director

Velvet Goldmine
1998
Director

Safe
1995
Director

Dottie Gets Spanked
1993
Director

Poison
1991
Director

Goo
1991
Director

La Divina
1989
Assistant Director

Cause and Effect
1988
Assistant Director

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
1987
Director

Assassins: A Film Concerning Rimbaud
1985
Director

The Suicide
1978
Director
- De Noche
De Noche
Director
WRITER11

The Velvet Underground
2021
Writer

I'm Not There
2007
Screenplay, Story

Far from Heaven
2002
Writer

Velvet Goldmine
1998
Screenplay, Story

Office Killer
1997
Co-Writer

Safe
1995
Writer

Dottie Gets Spanked
1993
Writer

Poison
1991
Writer

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
1987
Screenplay

The Suicide
1978
Screenplay
- De Noche
De Noche
Writer
PRODUCER20

Earthlings
2025
Executive Producer

The Velvet Underground
2021
Producer

Certain Women
2016
Executive Producer

Night Moves
2014
Executive Producer

Buoy
2013
Executive Producer

Meek's Cutoff
2011
Executive Producer

Wendy and Lucy
2008
Executive Producer

Quinceañera
2006
Executive Producer

Old Joy
2006
Executive Producer

Anemone Me
1990
Producer
- He Was Once
He Was Once
1989
Production Manager, Producer

La Divina
1989
Co-Producer

Natural History
1989
Producer

Cause and Effect
1988
Producer

Muddy Hands
1988
Producer

American Lunch
1988
Producer

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
1987
Producer

Tommy's
1985
Producer

A Man in Your Room
1984
Producer

The Suicide
1978
Producer










