Ferne Pearlstein

Chronicles E. Jean Carroll's life, trailblazing work and legal battles.

Traces the long and ferocious rivalry between Coke and Pepsi, centered on the “New Coke” debacle of 1985. For almost a hundred years, Coke had been the undisputed leader in the multibillion dollar global soda industry–stodgy, predictable, but indisputably top dog–while Pepsi had been the upstart No. 2, forever poking at its big brother with cutting edge advertising. But in 1985, in a stranger-than-fiction twist, Coca-Cola’s executives took a step so daring that no one in either company could believe it: they changed the formula of the most popular beverage on the planet.

Feature documentary about humor and the Holocaust, examining whether it is ever acceptable to use humor in connection with a tragedy of that scale, and the implications for other seemingly off-limits topics in a society that prizes free speech.

Beautiful aspiring rock star Jude is stuck in a rut - relegated to recording commercial jingles and lost in a series of one night stands. When she is evicted from her Brooklyn apartment, she is forced to move into the Hamptons home of her wealthy - and selfish - father Paul Lombard, an over-the-hill, Sinatra-esque crooner angling for a musical comeback.

A soldier recounts his relationship with a famous political prisoner attempting to overthrow their country's authoritarian government.

Explores Jerry Lewis' unreleased 1972 film "The Day the Clown Cried," its mysterious disappearance, and the search for footage. Includes interviews with Lewis' associates and previously unseen production content.

For more than 120 years, Mohawk ironworkers have raised America’s modern cityscapes. They are called 'sky walkers' because they walk fearlessly atop steel beams just a foot wide, high above the city. In this nuanced portrait of modern Native Americans' double lives, Jerry McDonald Thundercloud and his colleague Sky shuttle between the hard-drinking Brooklyn lodging houses they call home during the week and their rural reservation, a grueling drive six hours north, where a family weekend awaits. While the men are away working, their wives often struggle to keep their children away from the illegal temptations of an economically deprived area.

A coming of age story about a 13-year old Dominican boy -- nicknamed Mosquito by his tormentors -- who fights to win their respect on a memorable Halloween night in 1974. MOSQUITO captures the gritty look and feel of NYC in the 1970's through the documentary lens of Sundance Cinematography Award winner Ferne Pearlstein.

Thunder in Guyana is the remarkable tale of Janet Jagan, a young woman from Chicago who married Guyanese activist Cheddi Jagan and set off for the British colony to start a socialist revolution. For more than fifty years, the couple fought tirelessly to liberate the country from colonial rule and exploitation.

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A sensitive 10-year-old girl, Viv, gets an unexpected visit from her disturbed mother. Despite some difficult feelings and emotion and confusion, Viv learns to express herself and to forgive and understand her mother.

The notion of Cancel Culture, which grew out of a mostly progressive move to hold people accountable for bad behavior (especially racist or misogynistic language), has recently been co-opted by conservatives who–in equal measure–bemoan its “woke” goals, cast themselves as its victims, and attempt to use it themselves as a political powerplay, while seeking to deplatform opponents with similar strategies. But is Cancel Culture really new? Or really that powerful? Or really that bad? XCLD is a nuanced look at this provocative and controversial issue that explores the evolution of Cancel Culture, from its history in different forms, to its contemporary genesis on Black Twitter, to where it is today: another divisive issue for people to argue over, and one that creates some exceptionally odd bedfellows

A "beyond the shoes" documentary on the former first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos.

Dita and the Family Business is a 2001 documentary film directed by Joshua Taylor and Ferne Pearlstein about Taylor's own family, who owned the New York City department store Bergdorf Goodman.

"Sumo East and West" is a feature documentary about the cultural changes facing Japan as more and more foreigners enter the ancient Japanese sport of sumo wrestling.