Critics Choice Awards Nominee!

~ Series edited by Jen Fineran and Gail Huddelston ~

Produced and Directed by Dawn Porter

Documentary series examining the Supreme Court's vital role in the context of America’s shifting political landscape. Each of the four episodes features an in-depth look at pivotal cases that altered the state of the Union.

Emmy News & Docs —> Best long-form editing nominee!

~ edited by Jen Fineran & Alison Klayman ~

Directed by Alison Klayman

Ai Weiwei is China's most famous international artist, and its most outspoken domestic critic. Against a backdrop of strict censorship and an unresponsive legal system, Ai expresses himself and organizes people through art and social media in this Emmy-nominated and Academy-award short-listed documentary. 

Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize Award Winner; Peabody Award Winner; Best Documentary Short List, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences

Directed by Miriam Shor and Juliane Dressner and edited by Jen Fineran

Produced by Elizabeth Woodward, Hanna Gray Organschi and Willa Films

Bound by non-disclosure agreements that forbid them from even acknowledging they signed one, three individuals risk everything by breaking their silence to expose how NDAs have been weaponized to conceal rape, racial discrimination, corporate crimes, and other unlawful activity - reclaiming their voices from the institutions that tried to bury them.

SXSW Premiere

Emmy News & Docs —> Best long-form editing nominee!

~ edited by Jen Fineran ~

Directed by Alison Klayman

Alternately characterized as an epidemic or a love affair, prescription stimulants like Adderall, Vyvanse, and Ritalin have become a $13 billion industry in America. These drugs increase dopamine and adrenaline levels, promising a dose of performance enhancement for our hyper-competitive age. TAKE YOUR PILLS raises vital questions about our society today and where we are headed.

SXSW Film Festival, a Netflix Original production

Emmy News & Docs —> Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary Nominee!

~ edited by Jen Fineran ~

Directed by Beth Aala, produced by Beth Aala & Caroline Waterlow

Four women find purpose carrying babies for strangers in the conservative heartland of Boise, Idaho — the unregulated and unofficial “surrogacy capital” of the United States. As the surrogacy industry booms globally, MADE IN BOISE tells the story of a community of women risking their own health for humanity’s sake and the emotional complications that come with the journey of surrogacy.

Best Editing nominee, Woodstock Film Festival

Watch Film

https://www.aetv.com/specials/edge-of-daybreak

~ co-editor ~

Directed by Janina Quint

Produced by Tal Recanati, Maria Giacchino and Janina Quint

Through personal stories, Germans & Jews explores Germany’s transformation from silence about the Holocaust to facing it head-on. What began as a private conversation between two filmmakers grew into a cultural exchange among many. Unexpectedly, a nuanced story of reconciliation emerges. 

"Fascinating. With subtle, skillful editing, the filmmakers wisely allow paradoxes to arise on their own while giving the viewer enough historical context to make sense of them." - Village Voice

~ edited by Jen Fineran ~

Directed by Jonathan Schienberg

Executive Produced by Jaime Davila

Told through the eyes of 15-year-old Jamil Sunsin, Colossus is a modern-day immigrant tale of one family's desperate struggle after deportation, which leads to family separation and the elusive search for the American dream.

Fuse Docs

~ co-editor ~

A film by the Kramer brothers

In a divided America, progressive activist and political commentator Van Jones controversially works across party lines on landmark criminal justice reform and a more humane response to the addiction crisis. Attempting to be a bridge builder in a time of extreme polarization takes Van and a coalition of unlikely allies deep into the inner workings of a divisive administration, internal debates within both parties and the lives of frontline activists fighting for their communities.

“RIVETING … AN ILLUMINATING LOOK AT HOW REAL CHANGE OCCURS IN THESE DIVISIVE TIMES.” - RogerEbert.com

~ Edited by Jen Fineran, Steph Ching, Colleen Flanagan, Brian Goetz ~

Directed by Alison Klayman

All the cool kids were wearing it. This documentary explores A&F’s pop culture reign in the late ’90s and early 2000s and how it thrived on exclusion.

A Netflix Original Production

In a landmark Supreme Court case pitting Asian American plaintiffs against Harvard University, activists on both sides wrestle with hard truths about race and equality, as the fate of affirmative action hangs in the balance.

~ consulting editor ~

Directed by Alison Klayman

Produced by Marie-Therese Guirgis

THE BRINK follows Steve Bannon for a year leading up to the 2018 mid-term elections in the United States, shedding light on his efforts to mobilize and unify far-right parties in order to win seats in the May 2019 European Parliamentary elections. To maintain his power and influence, the former Goldman Sachs banker and media investor reinvents himself — as he has many times before — this time as the self-appointed leader of a global populist movement. A keen manipulator of the press and gifted self-promoter, Bannon continues to draw headlines and protests wherever he goes, feeding the powerful myth on which his survival relies.

Sundance Film Festival premiere

~ additional editing ~

Directed by Tom Donahue, produced by Ilan Arboleda

Executive produced by Geena Davis

Told first-hand by some of Hollywood's leading voices, This Changes Everything uncovers what's beneath one of the most confounding dilemmas in the entertainment industry- the under-representation and misrepresentation of women.

Toronto International Film Festival premiere

~ edited by Jen Fineran & Brian Goetz ~

Directed by Alison Klayman

Japanese artist Azuma Makoto sends his floral sculptures into space and sinks them to the bottom of the ocean, but mostly, he thinks about the life and death of flowers.

New Yorker Films; Aspen Shortsfest, AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER; AFI Docs - Shorts Grand Jury Prize Nominee

~ edited by Jen Fineran & Adam Kahan ~

Directed by Adam Kahan

Imagine hanging out with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, hearing them jam together, trading riffs, then riffing with words and trading stories. Bird and Diz are gone, but giants still walk among us. One of those giants is Buster Williams. Buster has played with everyone, from Sarah Vaughan to Miles Davis, Nancy Wilson, Art Blakey, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and more. Join Buster as he tells stories about his life and the lives of other great jazz musicians and is joined by and plays with some of the most significant living contributors to this music – Benny Golson, Herbie Hancock, Rufus Reid, Christian McBride, Larry Willis, Carmen Lundy, Kenny Barron, and Lenny White.

~ edited by Jen Fineran ~

Directed by Beth Aala, produced by Beth Aala and Caroline Waterlow

THIS IS BRIGHTON is a coming-of-age sports documentary about Brighton Zeuner, one of her generation's best female contest skateboarders. As skateboarding becomes an Olympic sport, this character-driven film reveals the anxiety and pressures of competition, the effects of social media, and how a global pandemic upended the promise of a young skater destined to be the best.

~ edited & produced by Jen Fineran ~

Directed by Emily Kassie

I Married My Family's Killer depicts the lives of three genocide victims who married into the families that killed their own.  It features an original animation by Dustin Grella and an original score by Ilan Isakov.

Winner: Student Academy Award

~ edited & co-directed by Jen Fineran ~

Directed by Matt D'Avella, produced by InVision

A series of snapshots into renowned designers’ secret worlds to demystify how their design choices directly impact the viewer’s daily life.  It features John Maeda and Jason Mayden, plus top designers at Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, AirBnB, and more.

~ edited by Jen Fineran ~

Directed by Daniel Karslake

Every Three Seconds, someone in the world dies from factors related to extreme poverty – 30,000 people a day and 10.5 million a year. The sheer magnitude can be overwhelming, causing people to ask the question, “What can one person do to make a difference possibly?”

These are five ordinary people between the ages of 7 and 70 who chose to engage with the world in their own way. By helping to meet the fundamental needs of others, each has filled their own hunger for fulfillment and purpose in the world in a way material reward could never do.

~ edited by Jen Fineran & Jenny McCormick ~

Directed by Kristi Zea; produced by Caroline Thomases-Goodman, Madeline Warren, and Jen Fineran

Everybody Knows...Elizabeth Murray is an intimate portrait of artist Elizabeth Murray, exploring the relationship between her family life and career and affirming her place in art history. Footage of Murray in her studio, home videos, interviews with art world luminaries, and Murray's journals round out this moving thought-provoking profile.

New York Times critics pick!

~ editing ~

Directed by Susan Froemke John Hoffman

Co-directed by Beth Aala

Out on America's vast working landscapes - the Mountain West's ranches, the Great Plains' farmlands, the Mississippi Delta's waterways - a vast, largely hidden, and entirely unexpected movement is being born. Tens of thousands of heartland conservationists are leading some of the most consequential work in the nation to restore America's forests, grasslands, wildlife, soil, and fisheries: the vast, rich bounty that shaped our national character and sustains our way of life.

Sundance Film Festival, Discovery

~ edited by Jen Fineran & Alison Klayman ~

Directed by Alison Klayman

Carmen Herrera is one of the oldest working artists today. She was a pioneering abstract painter in the '40s and '50s but only recently found the recognition that eluded her for most of her career as she approached her 100th birthday. 

Winner: 5 x best short documentary!      Winner: Best Editing DOCUTAH

~ edited by Jen Fineran ~

Directed by Tom Capello and produced by Scott Thigpen

A Powerful Noise takes you inside the lives of three women – a girls' education crusader from Mali, an HIV-positive widow from Vietnam, and a peacemaking survivor of the war in Bosnia – who each overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to bring lasting solutions to their communities.

Tribeca Film Festival

~ produced & edited by Jen Fineran ~

Directed by Daniel Cowen and produced by Benjamin Goldman

Squads is a 45-minute documentary film that goes under the hood of the modern product team, or “squad,” to answer the question: What makes a team work? a documentary film by InVision

https://www.invisionapp.com/films/squads

~ co-editor ~

Directed by Alexandra Lescaze

The ‘Girls’ have been friends for years, bonding over hopes, dreams, food, and the shared experience of being obese. But, now, as some pursue weight-loss surgery, their center has shifted and upset everything they knew about happiness, friendship, and love. 

Best Documentary Audience Award, Austin Film Festival

~ directed, produced & edited by Jen Fineran ~

Featuring Mark Weiss

Searching the spiritual realm for undiscovered images, a dogged artist travels to an otherworldly dimension filled with angels and demons as he embarks on a mystical transformation. 

Winner: Best Short Documentary, Illuminate Film Festival

Winner:  Best Directing, International Filmmakers Festival Berlin

See more of Mark's work at http://www.markweisspaintings.com/

~ edited by Jen Fineran and Ryan Deussing ~

Directed by Ryan Deussing

Confederacy Theory explores the complexities of a controversy steeped in American history and racial divisiveness: the debate over the Confederate flag in South Carolina, the last state to fly the flag on its capitol.

Winner: Best Documentary, Atlanta Film Festival

~ additional editor ~

Directed by Gina Angelone

Edited by Laura Corwin-Walsh

A true tale of miraculous chance encounters, high-risk rescue, a dramatic reunion as the iron curtain is shutting closed, and incredible lives forged from Auschwitz to America, René and I is the story of two resilient souls who triumphed over inhumane circumstances with their emotional selves intact.

Winner: Best Doc Feature, River Run International Film Fest

~ First assistant editor ~

Directed by Ruth Leitman

Edited by Ann Husaini & Darcy Bowman 

Alma Thorpe’s bizarre views on sexuality, motherhood, God, and mail-order sweepstakes make her a living, breathing shrine to Southern Gothic.  This intimate and darkly humorous film follows Alma’s daughter Margie’s struggle with a mentally ill mother and abusive alcoholic father. Framed by accusations of incest, ALMA is an unflinching examination of family secrets and pain tangled up in love.