About Joel Fendelman

“If you put a camera in his hands something good will come from it.”
— Albert Maysles

Joel Fendelman is an award-winning filmmaker dedicated to telling stories that reveal the underlying connections between us all. His documentary Man on Fire received an IDA Documentary Award and premiered nationally on PBS’s Independent Lens (2018–19 season). He went on to direct North Putnam, which won the Indiana Spotlight Award at the Heartland International Film Festival, and Finding Lucinda, currently being distributed by Freestyle Digital Media.

In 2016, his short film Game Night premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and won Best Super Short at the Savannah Film Festival. His second narrative feature, Remittance, earned multiple festival awards, including Best Actress and Best Screenplay at the Brooklyn Film Festival, and is distributed worldwide. His debut feature, David (2011), won the Ecumenical Prize at the Montreal World Film Festival. His most recent short film, The Spiritual Advisor, premiered at DOC NYC 2025 and is being distributed by Rolling Stone Films.

In 2011, Joel completed his first dramatic narrative feature "David", a coming of age story about identity and friendship between a Muslim and a Jewish boy in the ethnic neighborhoods of south Brooklyn. The film screened at the Rome and Montreal World Film Festival, which awarded the film its prestigious Ecumenical Prize, and at many other venues around the globe. It also sparked conversations within and between Jewish and Muslim religious groups universally and continues to be a desired resource for teaching tolerance amongst children.

Joel strives to embrace socially conscious stories that deal with religion, social class, minorities and communicates the underlying connection between us all.

“Fendelman turns in something with heart and plenty of visual polish, making him a screenwriter and director worth keeping an eye on.”

— Patrick Hickey Jr. | Review Fix

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