Brian Gersten is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, non-fiction writer, editor, and educator based in Millerton, NY. His extensive editing work—including Searching for Mr. Rugoff, Radical Wolfe, and Enter the Slipstream—has appeared on platforms such as Netflix, PBS, Amazon Prime, Peacock, HBO Max, and the Criterion Channel. His own short documentaries, including The Great Toilet Paper Scare, Balloon Boy, and The Hollerin’ Contest, have been featured in outlets like The Atlantic, The AV Club, Film Inquiry, and CBS Sunday Morning. Most recently, he edited the feature documentary Why We Dream, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2025 and will air on CNN. His newest short, Hollywood’s Mermaid, won Best Documentary Short at the Florida Film Festival and continues to screen nationwide.
Please List the Title of Your Film at BIFF 2026
HOLLYWOOD’S MERMAID: THE ESTHER WILLIAMS STORY
What was your first experience with film and how did it influence your first project?
I’m old enough to remember going to our local video rental store—aptly named Video Adventure—and browsing the aisles for what felt like hours. Seeing all the different genres, posters, and staff picks was like a free education in film. Like many socially awkward suburban kids, my friends and I gravitated toward amateur filmmaking. Armed with my parents’ JVC camcorder and ketchup packets for fake blood, we made the worst horror films imaginable. We had no idea what we were doing, but it was some of the most fun I’ve ever had. That early love of filmmaking eventually evolved into a career in documentary film, which feels like a natural extension of those childhood experiments.
Who are your favorite Filmmakers?
Some of my favorite documentary filmmakers include Steve James, Gordon Quinn, John Wilson, Chris Smith, Raoul Peck, the Maysles Brothers, Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady, Agnès Varda, Barbara Kopple, Matt Wolf, Asif Kapadia, Errol Morris, Sam Pollard, Werner Herzog, Laura Poitras…the list goes on and on.
What are you working on that no one knows about?
I’m currently working on an entirely archival short documentary about the Harmonic Convergence, a global mass meditation event for world peace that took place in August of 1987. We’re deep in post-production and hoping to finish it by the end of the year.
Who would play you in a movie? What’s your go to movie snack? What’s the film title that best describes your life?
Play me in a movie: I’ve been told I look like Seth Rogen, so I guess he could play me.
Go-to movie snack: Buttered popcorn and/or Raisinets.
Film title that best describes my life: Monty Python’s Life of Brian.
