Dean’s Council Chair and Film Alum Katharina Otto-Bernstein ’92 (CC ’86) Honored with 2025 John Jay Award
Last night, celebrated filmmaker, Film Program alum, and Dean's Council Chair Katharina Otto-Bernstein '92 (CC '86) was honored by the Columbia Alumni Association with a 2025 John Jay Award. Given annually to distinguished Columbia College alumni, the award celebrates individuals who have made significant contributions to their respective fields, and Otto-Bernstein’s profound impact on the film industry and her unwavering dedication to Columbia’s Film community makes her a particularly deserving honoree.
The John Jay Award has been presented to 236 honorees since 1978, and the dinner—held annually at the iconic Cipriani 42nd Street—raises funds for the John Jay National Scholars Program and brings together almost 500 attendees. This year marks the 45th annual John Jay Awards Dinner, continuing the tradition of nurturing the future generation of leaders.
Otto-Bernstein has built an illustrious career as a filmmaker, producer, and author, earning widespread acclaim for her work in narrative and documentary storytelling. When Otto-Bernstein was still a student at the School of the Arts, she was hired to work on a documentary film by a German producer who had to return to Germany for work. As a result, Otto-Bernstein ended up writing and directing the project, The Need for Speed (1993), which put her firmly on the map.
Otto-Bernstein's career would skyrocket from there. She launched her independent film and television production company Film Manufacturers Inc in 1993, and began writing and directing award-winning titles. Beautopia (1998) premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Silver Hugo Award for excellence in the field of social/political documentary at the Chicago International Film Festival. Absolute Wilson (2006)—heralded for its deep and intimate portrayal of avant-garde theater director, Robert Wilson—premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and won Art Basel's Art Film of The Year award. Most recently, the Emmy-nominated filmmaker served as a producer of Joyland (Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival; Winner of the Independent Spirit Award; Academy Award short-list 2023) and Oh, Canada (starring Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, and Jacob Elordi; Cannes, 2024); and the writer/director of forthcoming documentary feature The Last Spy.
But Otto-Bernstein is a household name in the Columbia Film Program not just because of her illustrious career. In 1999, having learned first-hand the structural and systemic difficulties the film industry poses to young and emerging filmmakers, Otto-Bernstein and Adjunct Associate Professor Michael Hausman set up a council of filmmakers dedicated to helping students break into the filmmaking business after graduation. The council would later be formalized, with the help of then-Dean of the School of the Arts Carol Becker, as the Dean’s Council, which Otto-Bernstein has chaired since 2008. Council members now support all students at the School of the Arts by serving as ambassadors for the School among friends, associates, and colleagues, and increasing awareness of the work of the School, our alumni, and our faculty. However, Otto-Bernstein wanted to take her support even further.
"From experience I can say that a grant doesn't get you very far," she said in a 2022 interview. "It may help you to get a film made, but you need to know how to use your thesis film as an entrance into the industry. So, I decided to create a mentorship program where we take four projects a year from script to screen."
The Katharina Otto-Bernstein Thesis Mentorship Program was founded in 2014 and has helped dozens of young filmmakers not only make their thesis films, but launch successful careers after graduation.
Saim Sadiq '19 was one such filmmaker. His feature film, Joyland, is based on Sadiq's thesis short, Darling, which takes place in Pakistan and went through Otto-Bernstein's mentorship program. Otto-Bernstein and FMI would then go on to co-produce the longform version of the film, which was the first official film from Pakistan to screen at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival—taking home the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard category—and was revolutionary in its discussion of gender, sexuality, and the barriers to love in a patriarchal family structure. Francisca Alegría '16 is another mentee whose thesis short film, And the Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow's Eye, was selected to screen in prestigious festivals like Telluride, Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival, and landed the award for Best International Short Film at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017. “Katharina was involved in the writing process and her creative feedback was fundamental for the film as well as my career,” said Francisca.
"What we get out of it is meeting an extraordinary pool of talented young people from all over the world who keep us current, and with whom we might want to work in the future. We learn from each other; it’s a two-way street.”
"The thesis mentorship program evolved over time," said Otto-Bernstein. "We found that we were filling a much-needed gap by providing students, who were about to graduate, with a platform to brainstorm, experiment, seek advice, and obtain additional resources. What we get out of it is meeting an extraordinary pool of talented young people from all over the world who keep us current, and with whom we might want to work in the future. We learn from each other; it’s a two-way street.”
When asked about receiving the John Jay Award, Otto-Bernstein shared, “Receiving the John Jay Award was a complete surprise. I was stunned, humbled, and honored to be awarded this significant recognition. It is very validating to see that your efforts don’t go unnoticed."
Otto-Bernstein’s John Jay Award is a testament to both her artistic achievements and her deep commitment to supporting the next generation of students and filmmakers. “If you can, take full advantage of the time [Columbia] provides for you to graduate," Otto-Bernstein tells young filmmakers, "because you might never have this kind of creative freedom to produce new work again. Your thesis script or film is your calling card. I started working in the film industry when the field of filmmaking wasn’t so overpopulated. It wasn’t a career path that was necessarily popular or desirable; it wasn’t as difficult to find work. Now it is, there is much more pressure, so the time at Columbia is very precious and one should make good use of it.”