[1] His first feature-length film, released in 1956, was the underwater documentary Secrets of the Reef which he co-directed with Lloyd Ritter and Robert M.
The film, nominated for an Oscar in 1968, captured performances by folk and blues icons such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Donovan, Peter, Paul & Mary, Howlin' Wolf, Mississippi John Hurt, and Son House.
After the promoters declared bankruptcy, Lerner fought a four-year battle in the British courts, eventually winning the rights to his footage.
[3] From the 1990s through his death, Lerner used the footage to produce a series of documentaries centered on the festival, including Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival (1995) and separate films on performances by Jimi Hendrix (1991), The Who (1996), Miles Davis (2004), Jethro Tull (2005), Emerson, Lake & Palmer (2006), Bob Dylan (2007), The Moody Blues (2008), Leonard Cohen (2009), Rory Gallagher's band Taste (2015), The Doors (2018), and Joni Mitchell (2018).
[6] Lerner died of kidney failure on September 2, 2017, at his home in Long Island City, Queens, New York.