Molly Bernstein

Molly Bernstein is an award-winning documentary director, producer, and editor whose work has been widely distributed internationally in festivals, theaters, museums and on television and streaming platforms. Many of her films explore the creative process. 

Cinema is a continually expanding language; interdisciplinary immersion in film studies and filmmaking techniques is key for all practitioners. My decades of experience directing documentaries about artmaking and as an editor on a vast array of films has given me deep insight into the artistic process that animates my approach to teaching.

Molly Bernstein

Career Highlights

• Director, Producer, Editor of "Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse" (2025). DOC NYC Film Festival, winner of the Metropolis Competition Grand Jury Prize. Theatrical release in over 30 cities nationwide and in the UK. PBS "American Masters." Streaming on Prime and Kanopy. Roger Ebert: The Best Documentaries of 2025. Cunter Punch: The Best Films of 2025.
• Director, Producer, Editor of “The Show’s The Thing: The Legendary Promoters of Rock" (2018). DOC NYC, Boulder, Cleveland and Doclands International film festivals, Doc’n Roll Film Festival London. Broadcast on Sky Arts in the UK. Hollywood Reporter: Essential Viewing.
• Director and Editor of “An Art That Nature Makes: The Work of Rosamond Purcell” (2015). DOC NYC, select US theatrical release. Screened at The Folger Shakespeare Library, MASS Moca and The Natural History Museum of Denmark. WNET PBS All•Arts. Streaming on Prime and Kanopy. New York Times' Critic’s Pick.
• Director, Producer, and Editor of “Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay” (2012). The New York Film Festival, Dublin and Glasgow International film festivals, US theatrical in over 50 cities, PBS "American Masters." Streaming on Apple TV, Prime Video, Kanopy. Entertainment Weekly: Top Ten of the Year List.
• Producer, Director, Writer and Editor of dozens of short nonfiction films commissioned by Sundance Channel, AMC, Criterion Collection, PBS, HERE TV, art galleries and environmental organizations.
• Select editing credits: “Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb”; Emmy and Peabody award-winning American Masters’ "Jerome Robbins: Something To Dance About"; and two episodes of “Witnesses to the Twentieth Century” written by Elaine May.
• Associate and assistant editor on films by directors including Martin Scorsese, Arthur Penn, Melvin Van Peebles, Allison Anders and Julie Dash.

Awards, Recognitions & Honors

• New York Film Festival Artist Academy Member in 2013, Lincoln Center Film Society.
• Work reviewed in The New York Times, The LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Indiewire, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, and The Nation.  
• Select media appearances and interviews: All of It with Alison Stewart on WNYC live radio, Filmmaker Magazine, Kanopy Conversations, Women and Hollywood, Yahoo Entertainment Build Series, SiriusXM Volume and Cheddar TV.