Josef Fares

{{Short description|Swedish-Lebanese film director and video game designer}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Josef Fares

| image = Josef Fares, Gamelab 2018 (43100922332).jpg

| landscape = yes

| caption = Fares in June 2018

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1977|09|19|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Beirut, Lebanon

| nationality =

| occupation = Film director, screenwriter, actor, video game designer

| years_active = 1996–present

| known_for =

| relatives = Fares Fares (brother)
Roy Fares (cousin)

}}

Josef Fares (born 19 September 1977) is a Lebanese-Swedish film director and video game designer.{{cite web|url=http://www.svenskfilmdatabas.se/en/item/?type=person&itemid=284532|title=Josef Fares – The Swedish Film Database|date=19 September 1977 |access-date=2017-12-09}}{{cite web|url=http://www.svenskfilmdatabas.se/sv/item/?type=person&itemid=284532|title=Josef Fares – Svensk Filmdatabas|date=19 September 1977 |access-date=2018-03-23}} His brother is the actor Fares Fares, who has appeared in many of his films, including one of his major hits, A Way Out (2018).{{Cite web|url=https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/10/27/4864230/brothers-starbreeze-josef-fares|title=Brothers: How a film director shook up Starbreeze|last=Mahardy|first=Mike|date=2013-10-27|website=Polygon|access-date=2017-10-27}} He is the founder of Hazelight Studios. He was presented "The Game Of The Year Award" for his game It Takes Two at The Game Awards in 2021. He also directed the game Split Fiction (2025).

Biography

File:Josef Fares på Guldbaggegalan 2013..jpg

Josef Fares moved to Sweden when he was 10 years old, fleeing the Lebanese Civil War with his family.{{cite news |last1=Goldberg |first1=Harold |title=Raised in a Civil War, He Makes Games to Bring People Together |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/arts/josef-fares-split-fiction-hazelight.html#:~:text=Mio%20and%20Zoe%2C%20the%20two,care%20for%20each%20other's%20company. |access-date=13 March 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=8 March 2025}} Variety declared him one of ten upcoming directors to watch in 2006.{{cite web|url=http://www.swedenabroad.com/Page____45018.aspx |title=Consulate General of Sweden New York - Zozo by Josef Fares at Scandinavia House |access-date=2010-01-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808191635/http://www.swedenabroad.com/Page____45018.aspx |archive-date=2009-08-08 }} The same year he won the Nordic Council Film Prize for his film Zozo.{{Cite web|url=http://cineuropa.org/nw.aspx?t=newsdetail&l=en&did=68342|title=Zozo wins Nordic Council Film prize|website=Cineuropa - the best of european cinema|date=12 October 2006 |access-date=2017-10-27}} In 2013, he directed his first video game, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. The game was well received by critics. Its focus is on the interaction between two brothers and their journey to save their father. He next formed his own development company, named Hazelight Studios, and partnered with publisher Electronic Arts for his next video game, A Way Out, which was released 23 March 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/a-way-out/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-4|title=A Way Out {{!}} Metacritic|website=metacritic.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-04-06}}

On 7 December 2017 Fares appeared on The Game Awards 2017 and gave a speech while on stage with host Geoff Keighley, where he strongly criticized the Oscars due to their ranking films above video games.{{cite web | url = https://www.polygon.com/2017/12/11/16762640/the-game-awards-oscars-rant-josef-fares-interview | title = Developer defends 'fuck the Oscars' rant from The Game Awards | first = Samit | last = Sarkar | date = December 12, 2017 | accessdate = March 29, 2021 | work = Polygon }}

Fares includes the speech as an Easter egg in his 2021 game It Takes Two.{{cite web | url = https://www.gamespot.com/articles/it-takes-two-has-a-great-fk-the-oscars-easter-egg/1100-6489448/ | title = It Takes Two Has A Great "F**k The Oscars" Easter Egg | first = Eddie | last = Makuch | date = March 29, 2021 | accessdate = March 29, 2021 | work = GameSpot }} His comments were censored, and he referenced the speech, while saying that the "Oscars got fucked", as he accepted the Game of the Year Award at The Game Awards 2021.{{cite news | url = https://www.thegamer.com/it-takes-two-game-of-the-year-the-game-awards-goty/ | title = It Takes Two Wins Game Of The Year At The Game Awards | first = Issy | last = Van Der Velde | newspaper = Thegamer | date = December 9, 2021}}

Industry perspective

In an interview to The Washington Post following It Takes Two{{'}}s win at The Game Awards 2021, Fares expressed his perspective on several topics in the game industry. He said he would "rather get shot in the knee" than include NFTs in future games, he also put forward that adjusting game design to make the player pay is wrong, and stated "For me, gaming is art". Fares has also commented on the topic of sexual harassment within the gaming industry which was brought up at The Game Awards 2021 with respect to Activision Blizzard and its CEO Bobby Kotick, saying "I think sometimes you need to go through some shit to get to the other side. That’s what’s happening", as well as that unions help "but that’s just one of the things. I don’t think it solves everything. Education and knowledge, I think that’s most important."{{Cite news|title=Years after viral Game Awards rant, 'It Takes Two' director says he doesn't hate the Oscars|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2021/12/23/josef-fares-it-takes-two-game-awards-interview/|access-date=2021-12-30|issn=0190-8286}}