The Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) welcomed Jay Rabinowitz, one of the most renowned film editors of the current era and Jim Jarmusch’s longtime collaborator. From 24 to 27 March 2025, he led a mentoring programme, offered students one-on-one consulting sessions and a masterclass where he elaborated on his approach to cinematic montage and working with directors. Rabinowitz shared his experience from editing legendary films that have informed modern-day cinema.

Rabinowitz has worked on many important films that have pushed the limits of cinematic narration. His contributions to Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (2000) have earned him the best editing awards from the Phoenix Film Critics Society and the Online Film Critics Society. Employing fast cuts, the split-screen technique and recurring visual cues, the film’s rhythmic and expressive montage radically influenced the style of film editing in the subsequent decades. In 2012, the film was included in the Motion Picture Editors Guild’s prestigious Best Edited Films of All Time chart at number 29. Rabinowitz’s treatment of Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life (2011) has achieved a similar rate of recognition, coming 65th in the chart.

As Jim Jarmusch’s preferred editor, Rabinowitz shaped the visual language of Jarmusch’s films. Rabinowitz edited the cult-status Dead Man (1995), Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) and The Limits of Control (2009). In addition to Jarmusch and Aronofsky, he has also worked with other prominent directors, editing the 8 Mile (2002), Curtis Hanson’s realistic depiction of the atmosphere of Detroit’s hip-hop scene, and the experimental I’m Not There (2007) by Todd Haynes that innovatively combines six various stories of one legend.

In addition to editing full-length films, Rabinowitz has contributed to the TV shows Oz and Homicide: Life on the Street and also worked as a musical editor, enabling him to sensitively combine image and sound. In 2019, he received the Sophia Award for his lifelong contributions from the Academia Portuguesa de Cinema.

The general public had the opportunity to meet Jay Rabinowitz. Edison Filmhub hosted a screening of Dead Man on 24 March 2025, followed by a debate with the author where he offered a peek behind the scenes of his job, elaborated on working with visionary directors and provided insights into the film editing process.

The Mentoring Programme – Jay Rabinowitz was implemented in cooperation with the Visegrad Film Forum.