Ferne Pearlstein

Ferne Pearlstein is an award-winning producer, director, cinematographer, and editor. Winner of the Sundance Cinematography Prize for Ramona Diaz’s IMELDA and member of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, she has made films everywhere from Japan to Haiti to Guyana to Burma, where she snuck her 16mm camera into the rebel bases of the Karen Liberation Army. Ferne has had four features premiere at Tribeca, including the critically acclaimed THE LAST LAUGH starring Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, and Auschwitz survivor Renee Firestone, which aired on Independent Lens and streamed on Netflix and Amazon. In 2019 Ferne was one of only eight filmmakers chosen by the UN and Google to direct a series of 17 PSAs about building a sustainable planet, starring Bridget Everett, Amber Tamblyn, David Cross, and others, which screened at the UN General Assembly. Most recently Ferne produced, directed, and edited XCLD, a nuanced look at cancel culture, for Trevor Noah and MSNBC. Currently, she is producing JACK WHITTEN: A COSMIC SOUL, directed by Yoruba Richen, and is editor, writer and story producer on Ivy Meeropol’s documentary ASK E. JEAN, about E. Jean Carroll, which premiered at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival.