    joel david coen (born november 29, 1954) and ethan jesse coenaccording to the state of minnesota. minnesota birth index, 1935â2002. minnesota department of health. searchable at http://www.ancestry.com (born september 21, 1957), known informally as the coen brothers, are american film directors, screenwriters, producers, and editors. their films include blood simple (1984), barton fink (1991), fargo (1996), the big lebowski (1998), o brother, where art thou? (2000), no country for old men (2007), burn after reading (2008), a serious man (2009), true grit (2010), and inside llewyn davis (2013). the brothers write, direct, and produce their films jointly, although until the ladykillers (2004), joel received sole credit for directing and ethan for producing. they often alternate top billing for their screenplays while sharing film credits for editor under the alias roderick jaynes. they have been nominated for twelve academy awards together, plus one individual nomination for both, winning best original screenplay for fargo and best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay for no country for old men. ==background== ===early life=== joel and ethan coen, of jewish descent,[http://www.haaretz.com/culture/coen-brothers-boycotting-israel-is-a-mistake-1.361926 "coen brothers: boycotting israel is a 
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