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Joe Bini

Joe Bini

Editor and writer · San Mateo, California, USA

Primetime Emmy winner · 2 other major award bodies

Joe Bini is an American film editor, born in 1963 in San Mateo, California, best known for his two-decade collaboration with Werner Herzog, having edited twenty-seven of his documentaries and narrative features, including Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997), Grizzly Man (2005), Rescue Dawn (2007), the Oscar-nominated Encounters at the End of the World (2007), and Into the Inferno (2016). He won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Programming and the 2008 Documentary Editing Award for Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, and has also edited narrative features for Andrea Arnold (American Honey) and Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin, You Were Never Really Here). He served on the documentary jury at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and edited Remake (2025), directed by Ross McElwee.

Read more

Biography from TMDB.

From
San Mateo, California, USA
Works as
Editor and writer
Titles
33 on MovieCove · 51 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 155 days to Oct 26Up 11% in 30 days

What are Joe Bini's films like?

Across their 27 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Survival.

Genres

Documentary13 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 93rd percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Documentary movies
Drama6 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 71st percentile
: browse their Drama movies
Adventure3 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 81st percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Adventure movies
Crime2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 72nd percentile
: browse their Crime movies

Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.

Themes

share of theme weight
Self
27%
Survival
17%
Ideas
17%
Morality
15%
Society
10%
Power
9%
Bonds
5%
Justice6 titles, browse their movies with this themePurpose5 titles, browse their movies with this themeNature4 titles, browse their movies with this themeMemory5 titles, browse their movies with this themeObsession4 titles, browse their movies with this themeFreedom4 titles, browse their movies with this themeGrief4 titles, browse their movies with this themeFaith3 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 26 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Dark: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their dark movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 5 · Serious 5 · Dark 16

Stylized: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their stylized movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 11 · Stylized 12 · Heightened 3

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

A split, not a type: Gentle 5 · Charged 10 · Intense 11

Shifting: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their shifting movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 10 · Shifting 14 · Whiplash 2

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 20 · Some laughs 6 · Funny 0

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 19 · Even-paced 7 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 3 · Engaged 18 · Full focus 5

Affecting: How much it costs you emotionally; whether you need recovery time. Browse their affecting movies.
Demand · Emotional cost
easyheavy

A split, not a type: Easy watch 7 · Affecting 6 · Heavy 13

Open-ended: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their open-ended movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

A split, not a type: Resolved 7 · Open-ended 8 · Ambiguous 11

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
18
Contemplative
15
Melancholic
14
Dread
6
Warm
4
Other
16

How their films linger

Thought-provoking18 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHaunting12 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful4 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteDevastating4 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteBittersweet5 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteInfuriating3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end · 1 with a twist

  • Bittersweet10
  • Tragic2
  • Ambiguous14
  • Other1

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Joe Bini's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 27 of their 33 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (14).

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Joe Bini's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

51 credits, 33 with a MovieCove page.

  • Queer Edward II (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)

    Executive Producer · Supervising Editor

  • Remake(2025)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films

  • Burden of Other People's Dreams: Chapter One – Ganymede (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)

    Director · Editor · Writer

  • Pompei: Below the Clouds(2025)

    Editorial Consultant

    Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films

  • The Voice of Hind Rajab(2025)

    Thanks

    Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films

  • Bird(2024)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all films

  • Social Studies (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)

    Show 5 episodes · Supervising Editor

  • My First Film(2024)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films

  • All the Beauty and the Bloodshed(2022)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films

  • 9/11: One Day in America(2021)

    Show 6 episodes · Story Consultant

    Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all shows

  • Little Ethiopia: Chez Nous (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)

    Director

  • A Thousand Thoughts (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)

    Director

  • Downsizing(2017)

    Additional Editing

    Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all films

  • You Were Never Really Here(2017)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films

  • Salt and Fire(2016)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 5th percentile of all films

  • American Honey(2016)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films

  • Into the Inferno(2016)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films

  • The Hard Stop (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)

    Executive Producer

  • Queen of the Desert(2015)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films

  • Mr. Robot(2015)

    Show 1 episode · Editor

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all shows

  • Tales of the Grim Sleeper (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)

    Editor

  • From One Second to the Next (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)

    Editor

  • Manhunt: The Inside Story of the Hunt for Bin Laden(2013)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films

  • On Death Row(2012)

    Show Editor

    Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all shows

  • Into the Abyss(2011)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films

  • We Need to Talk About Kevin(2011)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films

  • Cave of Forgotten Dreams(2010)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films

  • Happy People: A Year in the Taiga(2010)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films

  • The Tillman Story(2010)

    Editor · Writer

    Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films

  • My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done(2009)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films

  • Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans(2009)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films

  • La Bohème (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)

    Editor

  • Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired(2008)

    Editor · Writer

    Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all films

  • Encounters at the End of the World(2007)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films

  • Rescue Dawn(2006)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films

  • In the Edges: The 'Grizzly Man' Session (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)

    Editor · as Self

  • The Wild Blue Yonder(2005)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all films

  • Grizzly Man(2005)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films

  • The White Diamond (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)

    Editor

  • Wheel of Time(2003)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films

  • Numb (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)

    Editor

  • Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet(2002)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films

  • Invincible(2001)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films

  • Pilgrimage (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)

    Editor

  • 2000 Years of Christianity (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)

    Show 1 episode · Editor

  • Wings of Hope (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)

    Editor

  • My Best Fiend(1999)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films

  • Little Dieter Needs to Fly(1997)

    Editor

    Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films

  • POV (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)

    Show 1 episode · Editor

  • Burden of Other People's Dreams (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director · Editor · Writer · as Narrator

  • Napoli 1990, Napoli 2023 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Editor

Career shape

A full career of 49 titles, 47 of them dated from 1988 to 2026.

Biggest box office

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)

$11M worldwide

Highest rated

Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997)

Midcredits 98th

Most popular right now

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting1 of 49: 0 only acting, 1 with another roleDirecting4 of 49: 2 only directing, 2 with another roleWriting5 of 49: 1 only writing, 4 with another roleProducing2 of 49: 1 only producing, 1 with another roleEditing42 of 49: 37 only editing, 5 with another role · typical Midcredits score88thOther crew3 of 49: 3 only other crew, 0 with another role

49 titles, 5 with more than one role — editing and writing overlap on 4 of them.

By decade

1980s1 · crew1990s4 · crew2000s14 · crew2010s17 · crew2020s11 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.

Awards

a Primetime Emmy and 2 other major awards from 4 major nominations, 2008–2019.

WinNomination
  1. 2019
    • Independent Spirit Award, won · Best Editing
  2. 2009
    • Primetime Emmy, won · Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming
    • Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming
  3. 2008
    • Sundance award, won · Documentary

Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.

How do Joe Bini's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 85th percentile, the median of all 30; across their 26 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 84th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

84thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 26

Approval · how many liked their films

85thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 26

Reach · how many have seen their films

87thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 26

Midcredits score across 33 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up23
  • 50th to 74th7
  • 25th to 49th2
  • Below 25th1

Shape of the crowd

None of their 33 titles divides audiences: 18 are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Universally Loved9
  • Universally Panned1
  • Crowd Pleaser18
  • Broadly Agreed1
  • Mixed4

Most loved · writer

9/11: One Day in America (2021)

Midcredits 99th · 97% liked

Reviewers score the pacing 45/100 in their films, across 25 reviewed titles; fans 54, detractors 27. The element that speaks to their work as an editor.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Is Joe Bini's work okay for kids?

Across up to 9 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore, sex & nudity, profanity and frightening / intense run heavier than most films.

Their medianMedian of all filmsMiddle 80% of their titles
Violence & Gore8 titles33–83 · median 71 · intenseheavier than most filmsMedian of all films: 44
Sex & Nudity9 titles17–72 · median 44 · moderateheavier than most filmsMedian of all films: 32
Profanity8 titles50–88 · median 73 · intenseheavier than most filmsMedian of all films: 36
Alcohol & Drugs7 titles23–90 · median 38 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 33
Frightening / Intense7 titles57–83 · median 74 · intenseheavier than most filmsMedian of all films: 39

Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.

Who does Joe Bini work with?

People who share at least 2 of Joe Bini's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Werner Herzog shares the most, 17.

Directors

Actors

Composers and cinematographers

Producers

Mixed roles