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BIOGRAPHY.

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FERNE PEARLSTEIN

Ferne Pearlstein is a prize-winning director, cinematographer, and editor based in New York City. A member of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and one of the few female cinematographers featured in Kodak's “On Film” ad campaign, Ferne is a winner of the 2004 Sundance Cinematography Prize for Ramona Diaz's IMELDA. She has made films all over the world, from Haiti to Uganda to Guyana to Burma, where she snuck her 16mm camera across the border to film in the rebel bases of the Karen Liberation Army. As a director and producer she has had four features premiere at Tribeca, including her 2003 feature documentary SUMO EAST AND WEST, whose two-year festival run culminated in a screening on Waikiki Beach for 8000 people at the Hawaii International Film Festival. Her most recent feature documentary was the critically acclaimed THE LAST LAUGH (2016), starring Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, and many others, which screened at over 100 film festivals and was released theatrically in more than 25 cities. (Both films aired on PBS/Independent Lens.) Since then, Ferne has become a recognized speaker and author on humor as it relates to crisis. Following that, Ferne produced and shot COLA WARS (2019) for History, and was one of a handful of filmmakers chosen by the UN, Google, and Tribeca Studios to direct 17 PSAs about building a sustainable planet, which were featured on YouTube and shown at the UN General Assembly. Most recently Ferne directed and edited “XCLD: THE STORY OF CANCEL CULTURE,” a nuanced look at cancel culture, produced by Trevor Noah’s Day Zero Productions in conjunction with Time Studios for MSNBC’s Turning Point series. She holds post-graduate degrees in documentary film and photography from Stanford and the International Center of Photography.

HONORS

TRIBECA

2003

2006

2015

2016

WORLD PREMIERE

Director 

   Sumo East and West (2004)

   The Last Laugh (2015)

Producer

   Land of the Blind (2006)

   When I Live My Life Over Again (2015)

DOC10 Chicago

High Falls

FilmFest Aspen

Teaneck Int'l 

OPENING NIGHT FILM

The Last Laugh 2016-2018

SUNDANCE

"Excellence in 

Cinematography"

(IMELDA)

2004

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Sundance Cinematography Prize 

Imelda (Directed by Ramona Diaz) 2004

Documentary Branch

Academy of 

Motion Picture

Arts & Sciences

2019

Brooklyn Jewish

Hall of Fame

Inducted

2018

SF Jewish

Berlin Jewish

Miami Jewish

​Philadelphia Jewish

Boston Jewish​

Jacob Burns

Annapolis

CENTERPIECE FILM

FilmFest Aspen

Westfield Int'l

Teaneck Int'l

Director's View

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

Best Film

   The Last Laugh (2017)

Woman in Film Award  

   Ferne Pearlstein (2017)

Special Recognition Award  

   Ferne Pearlstein (2017)

Best Film

   Sumo East and West (2004)

Australian Jewish 

Lighthouse Int'l 

Silicon Valley 

York Jewish 

CLOSING NIGHT FILM

The Last Laugh 2016-2018

The Last Laugh 2016-2018

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