Jennifer Steinman Sternin

Jennifer Steinman Sternin is an award-winning filmmaker with over 20 years of experience in television and filmmaking. She is the director and producer of an upcoming feature film about legendary Latina percussionist, Sheila E., and producer of "Time for Ilhan," featuring Minnesota State Representative Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American Muslim woman elected to office in America (World Premiere, Tribeca Film Festival, 2018). Jennifer's previous films include "Desert Runners" (2013), which was named by the Huffington Post as one of "The Top 10 Documentaries of 2013." The film screened to sold-out audiences at IDFA and was selected "Best of the Fest" at the Edinburgh Film Festival. It won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at both the Vancouver International and The Hamptons International Film Festivals, and Best Cinematography at the Woods Hole Film Festival. Jennifer's feature directorial debut, the documentary film "Motherland" (2009), had its world premiere at SXSW where it won the Audience Award for Emerging Visions. The film went on to win several other best-of-festival awards and was voted by fans to return to SXSW in 2012 for an Encore Screening. Jennifer began her career as a staff Editor at CBS, both in New York and San Francisco. Her work has aired nationally on ABC, PBS, Discovery, National Geographic, Sundance Channel and many other television networks. Her films have been accepted into many major film festivals including Tribeca, Rotterdam, and Sundance. She won a Telly Award and has been nominated for an Emmy® Award for Outstanding Achievement in Editing. Jennifer is the co-founder of Smush Films. She also has two feature film scripts and several short films in development, has done a TEDx talk and does speaking engagements around the world.