Directing

Joe Stankus

Joe Stankus is a Brooklyn based writer/director. He enjoys working in both narrative and documentary filmmaking but is especially fond of the blurry area in between.

Known For

TrooperTrooper · 2022
Trooper
2022
Movie
When an ex-cop's deathbed confession hints at a terrible crime, a dutiful daughter is forced to confront the differences between the stories we tell ourselves and the truth.
Imaginary FriendImaginary Friend · 2019
Imaginary Friend
★ 4.02019
MovieScience Fiction
Helen, a lonely and isolated woman, is given the opportunity to connect with people from her past using a new augmented reality device.
What I See When I LookWhat I See When I Look · 2021
What I See When I Look
2021
Movie
Interwoven fragments of one day in the filmmaker's childhood.
The BackseatThe Backseat · 2017
The Backseat
★ 6.02017
MovieDocumentary
Two octogenarians become tasked with driving their grown child to work.
MarqueeMarquee · 2013
Marquee
2013
MovieDocumentary
Joe Stankus’s MARQUEE (2012) is a lyrical black-and-white visit with now-retired longtime IFC Center usher Larry Alaimo as he changes the letters on the theater’s iconic marquee and reminisces about a life at the movies.
Good NewsGood News · 2019
Good News
2019
Movie
Novelist Evan is excited to share the news that he’s been accepted to a prestigious summer writers’ colony with his husband and their friends over an intimate dinner party. But the big reveal doesn’t go as planned in this finely calibrated domestic-drama-in-miniature.
It Goes That QuickIt Goes That Quick · 2026
It Goes That Quick
2026
MovieDocumentary
The word “personal” doesn’t begin to describe the profound intimacy of this unconventional family portrait, constructed with delicacy and humor by married filmmakers Ashley Connor and Joe Stankus. Neither can that description reveal the artful and intelligent self-awareness of their approach: It Goes That Quick is neither confessional nor exposé but rather something singular and rich—a timeless mosaic of American life, filmed over the course of eight years within one extended Northeastern network of aunts and uncles, parents and grandparents, adults and newborns in which everyone plays a dramatic role that’s no less constructed for being real. By the end of this fleet, loving feature, you feel like a member of the family.
Theo Anthony Makes a StoolTheo Anthony Makes a Stool · 2022
Theo Anthony Makes a Stool
2022
MovieDocumentary
A documentary filmmaker talks us through the steps of his latest project — a wooden stool.

Filmography

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It Goes That QuickIt Goes That Quick · 2026
It Goes That Quick
2026
MovieDocumentary
The word “personal” doesn’t begin to describe the profound intimacy of this unconventional family portrait, constructed with delicacy and humor by married filmmakers Ashley Connor and Joe Stankus. Neither can that description reveal the artful and intelligent self-awareness of their approach: It Goes That Quick is neither confessional nor exposé but rather something singular and rich—a timeless mosaic of American life, filmed over the course of eight years within one extended Northeastern network of aunts and uncles, parents and grandparents, adults and newborns in which everyone plays a dramatic role that’s no less constructed for being real. By the end of this fleet, loving feature, you feel like a member of the family.

Director