3 minutes of readingNew DelhiFebruary 6, 2026 08:26 pm IST
Awards season is about to come to a close with the Oscars and BAFTAs just around the corner. During this season, director Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme is currently being considered one of the favorites for the big prizes. However, the dream of winning the big prizes seems to be fading, as controversies begin to surround director Josh Safdie. One of them is the question about the origins of the Marty Supreme story.
Yes, the movie isn’t a page-for-page copy of the real-life table tennis player Marty Reisman, but there are too many similarities to let it pass without a doubt. According to a report from THR, Reisman’s family spoke to the Daily Mail and said they never blessed the film or its story. They said the studio behind the film, A24, “profited by externalizing the harm and invoked Marty’s name without attribution or compensation.”
According to the same THR report, Josh Safdie grew up around table tennis and several family members were involved with the sport at some level or another. He always wanted to make a movie about the sport and one day his wife, Sara Rossein, brought him a copy of Reisman’s autobiography. She also worked as an executive producer and researcher on the film, and once she gave the book to Josh, he finally He found the story he wanted to tell. However, he and his team maintain that except for some details, such as appearance, they wrote a completely fictional script.
The similarities that have been pointed out by the world are described as a “tribute” by the director, and he recently spoke about the story during an interview. He appeared on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and the host asked him, “Where did (the idea) come from?” Josh responded, “It’s a movie about a dreamer. A dreamer whose dreams no one respects. He’ll go to hell and back to try to achieve greatness. It’s about table tennis, and anything you can take seriously in life is worth pursuing.”
Before getting into the idea, Josh said, “As big as this movie is in terms of scope, it’s a personal movie, and all my movies are personal.” While there may be some truth to what both sides are saying, one thing is for sure… Marty Supreme and his Oscar race are going through a tough time, and one only has to wonder who is benefiting from all of this.