Home

Jem Cohen (b. 1962)

Birthplace:
Kabul, Afghanistan

Born:
January 1, 1962

Biography from TheMovieDB

Born in Afghanistan, Jem Cohen is an American experimental filmmaker and photographer, especially known for his observational portraits of urban landscapes, blending of media formats, and collaborations with musicians.  Cohen has worked extensively with musicians including Patti Smith, Fugazi, Terry Riley, R.E.M., Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Xylouris White, DJ Rupture, the Ex, Elliott Smith, Vic Chesnutt, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Matana Roberts, Jessica Moss, Jonathan Richman, T.Griffin/Catherine McRae, White Magic, and the Orpheus Orchestra with Gil Shaham, and has collaborated with writers Luc Sante and Sam Stephenson, and graphic artist Ben Katchor.

Click the heading above to show or hide the text.

Additional information:

The Search Form


Film Performances

Click the heading above to show or hide the list.

Film Production

Assistant Property Master:
1986  At Close Range
1987  Matewan

Camera Operator:
1986  At Close Range
1987  Matewan
1997  Lucky Three: An Elliott Smith Portrait

Cinematography:
1986  At Close Range
1987  Matewan
1997  Lucky Three: An Elliott Smith Portrait
2008  Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin
2015  Counting
2019  Makeshift (for Mekas)

Director:
1986  At Close Range
1987  Matewan
1987  This Is a History of New York
1989  4:44 (from her house home)
1989  Glueman
1989  Just Hold Still
1989  Light Years
1991  Drink Deep
1991  R.E.M. - This Film Is On
1991  Sketches for Late City Final
1992  Black Hole Radio
1994  Buried in Light
1995  Nightswimming
1996  Lost Book Found
1997  Lucky Three: An Elliott Smith Portrait
1997  Museum
1999  Amber City
1999  Blood Orange Sky
1999  Instrument
2000  Benjamin Smoke
2000  Little Flags
2001  Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse
2002  The Foxx and Little Vic
2003  R.E.M.: In View 1988-2003 (The Best of R.E.M.)
2004  Chain
2006  Blessed Are the Dreams of Men
2006  Building a Broken Mousetrap
2007  A Tale of Two Cities
2007  Spirit (Smells Like Teen Spirit)
2007  free
2008  Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin
2008  Half The Battle
2009  Chinatown Film Project
2009  Le bled (Buildings in a Field)
2009  Long for the City (Patti Smith in New York)
2009  Night Scene New York
2010  Anne Truitt, Working
2010  Crossing Paths with Luce Vigo
2010  Roscoe Holcomb from Daisy, Kentucky
2011  Gravity Hill Newsreels: Occupy Wall Street
2012  20 Little Films
2012  Museum Hours
2013  Helianthus Corner Blues
2014  The Film That Buys the Cinema
2015  Counting
2015  We Have an Anchor
2016  Bury Me Not
2016  On Essex Road
2016  Peter Hutton
2016  World Without End (No Reported Incidents)
2017  Birth of a Nation
2018  MARC RIBOT FEAT. TOM WAITS – Bella Ciao (Goodbye Beautiful)
2018  NYC Weights and Measures
2018  This Climate
2019  Makeshift (for Mekas)
2022  Ballad of Philip Guston
2022  Or Nothing (The Double)
2024  June Leaf
2024  Little, Big, and Far
2024  Robert and June (Cape Breton and NYC)
????  Gravity Hill Newsreels-Bella ciao

Director of Photography:
1986  At Close Range
1987  Matewan
1987  This Is a History of New York
1989  4:44 (from her house home)
1989  Glueman
1989  Just Hold Still
1989  Light Years
1991  Drink Deep
1991  R.E.M. - This Film Is On
1991  Sketches for Late City Final
1992  Black Hole Radio
1994  Buried in Light
1995  Nightswimming
1996  Lost Book Found
1997  Lucky Three: An Elliott Smith Portrait
1997  Museum
1999  Amber City
1999  Blood Orange Sky
1999  Instrument
2000  Benjamin Smoke
2000  Little Flags
2001  Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse
2002  The Foxx and Little Vic
2003  R.E.M.: In View 1988-2003 (The Best of R.E.M.)
2004  Chain
2006  Blessed Are the Dreams of Men
2006  Building a Broken Mousetrap
2007  A Tale of Two Cities
2007  Spirit (Smells Like Teen Spirit)
2007  free
2008  Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin
2008  Half The Battle
2009  Chinatown Film Project
2009  Le bled (Buildings in a Field)
2009  Long for the City (Patti Smith in New York)
2009  Night Scene New York
2010  Anne Truitt, Working
2010  Crossing Paths with Luce Vigo
2010  Roscoe Holcomb from Daisy, Kentucky
2011  Gravity Hill Newsreels: Occupy Wall Street
2012  20 Little Films
2012  Museum Hours
2013  Helianthus Corner Blues
2014  The Film That Buys the Cinema
2015  Counting
2015  We Have an Anchor
2016  Bury Me Not
2016  On Essex Road
2016  Peter Hutton
2016  World Without End (No Reported Incidents)
2017  Birth of a Nation
2018  MARC RIBOT FEAT. TOM WAITS – Bella Ciao (Goodbye Beautiful)
2018  NYC Weights and Measures
2018  This Climate
2019  Makeshift (for Mekas)
2022  Ballad of Philip Guston
2022  Or Nothing (The Double)
2024  June Leaf
2024  Little, Big, and Far
2024  Robert and June (Cape Breton and NYC)
????  Gravity Hill Newsreels-Bella ciao

Editor:
1986  At Close Range
1987  Matewan
1987  This Is a History of New York
1989  4:44 (from her house home)
1989  Glueman
1989  Just Hold Still
1989  Light Years
1991  Drink Deep
1991  R.E.M. - This Film Is On
1991  Sketches for Late City Final
1992  Black Hole Radio
1994  Buried in Light
1995  Nightswimming
1996  Lost Book Found
1997  Lucky Three: An Elliott Smith Portrait
1997  Museum
1999  Amber City
1999  Blood Orange Sky
1999  Instrument
2000  Benjamin Smoke
2000  Little Flags
2001  Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse
2002  The Foxx and Little Vic
2003  R.E.M.: In View 1988-2003 (The Best of R.E.M.)
2004  Chain
2006  Blessed Are the Dreams of Men
2006  Building a Broken Mousetrap
2007  A Tale of Two Cities
2007  Spirit (Smells Like Teen Spirit)
2007  free
2008  Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin
2008  Half The Battle
2009  Chinatown Film Project
2009  Le bled (Buildings in a Field)
2009  Long for the City (Patti Smith in New York)
2009  Night Scene New York
2010  Anne Truitt, Working
2010  Crossing Paths with Luce Vigo
2010  Roscoe Holcomb from Daisy, Kentucky
2011  Gravity Hill Newsreels: Occupy Wall Street
2012  20 Little Films
2012  Museum Hours
2013  Helianthus Corner Blues
2014  The Film That Buys the Cinema
2015  Counting
2015  We Have an Anchor
2016  Bury Me Not
2016  On Essex Road
2016  Peter Hutton
2016  World Without End (No Reported Incidents)
2017  Birth of a Nation
2018  MARC RIBOT FEAT. TOM WAITS – Bella Ciao (Goodbye Beautiful)
2018  NYC Weights and Measures
2018  This Climate
2019  Makeshift (for Mekas)
2022  Ballad of Philip Guston
2022  Or Nothing (The Double)
2024  June Leaf
2024  Little, Big, and Far
2024  Robert and June (Cape Breton and NYC)
????  Gravity Hill Newsreels-Bella ciao

Producer:
1986  At Close Range
1987  Matewan
1987  This Is a History of New York
1989  4:44 (from her house home)
1989  Glueman
1989  Just Hold Still
1989  Light Years
1991  Drink Deep
1991  R.E.M. - This Film Is On
1991  Sketches for Late City Final
1992  Black Hole Radio
1994  Buried in Light
1995  Nightswimming
1996  Lost Book Found
1997  Lucky Three: An Elliott Smith Portrait
1997  Museum
1999  Amber City
1999  Blood Orange Sky
1999  Instrument
2000  Benjamin Smoke
2000  Little Flags
2001  Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse
2002  The Foxx and Little Vic
2003  R.E.M.: In View 1988-2003 (The Best of R.E.M.)
2004  Chain
2006  Blessed Are the Dreams of Men
2006  Building a Broken Mousetrap
2007  A Tale of Two Cities
2007  Spirit (Smells Like Teen Spirit)
2007  free
2008  Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin
2008  Half The Battle
2009  Chinatown Film Project
2009  Le bled (Buildings in a Field)
2009  Long for the City (Patti Smith in New York)
2009  Night Scene New York
2010  Anne Truitt, Working
2010  Crossing Paths with Luce Vigo
2010  Roscoe Holcomb from Daisy, Kentucky
2011  Gravity Hill Newsreels: Occupy Wall Street
2012  20 Little Films
2012  Museum Hours
2013  Helianthus Corner Blues
2014  The Film That Buys the Cinema
2015  Counting
2015  We Have an Anchor
2016  Bury Me Not
2016  On Essex Road
2016  Peter Hutton
2016  World Without End (No Reported Incidents)
2017  Birth of a Nation
2018  MARC RIBOT FEAT. TOM WAITS – Bella Ciao (Goodbye Beautiful)
2018  NYC Weights and Measures
2018  This Climate
2019  Makeshift (for Mekas)
2022  Ballad of Philip Guston
2022  Or Nothing (The Double)
2024  June Leaf
2024  Little, Big, and Far
2024  Robert and June (Cape Breton and NYC)
????  Gravity Hill Newsreels-Bella ciao

Screenplay:
1986  At Close Range
1987  Matewan
1987  This Is a History of New York
1989  4:44 (from her house home)
1989  Glueman
1989  Just Hold Still
1989  Light Years
1991  Drink Deep
1991  R.E.M. - This Film Is On
1991  Sketches for Late City Final
1992  Black Hole Radio
1994  Buried in Light
1995  Nightswimming
1996  Lost Book Found
1997  Lucky Three: An Elliott Smith Portrait
1997  Museum
1999  Amber City
1999  Blood Orange Sky
1999  Instrument
2000  Benjamin Smoke
2000  Little Flags
2001  Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse
2002  The Foxx and Little Vic
2003  R.E.M.: In View 1988-2003 (The Best of R.E.M.)
2004  Chain
2006  Blessed Are the Dreams of Men
2006  Building a Broken Mousetrap
2007  A Tale of Two Cities
2007  Spirit (Smells Like Teen Spirit)
2007  free
2008  Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin
2008  Half The Battle
2009  Chinatown Film Project
2009  Le bled (Buildings in a Field)
2009  Long for the City (Patti Smith in New York)
2009  Night Scene New York
2010  Anne Truitt, Working
2010  Crossing Paths with Luce Vigo
2010  Roscoe Holcomb from Daisy, Kentucky
2011  Gravity Hill Newsreels: Occupy Wall Street
2012  20 Little Films
2012  Museum Hours
2013  Helianthus Corner Blues
2014  The Film That Buys the Cinema
2015  Counting
2015  We Have an Anchor
2016  Bury Me Not
2016  On Essex Road
2016  Peter Hutton
2016  World Without End (No Reported Incidents)
2017  Birth of a Nation
2018  MARC RIBOT FEAT. TOM WAITS – Bella Ciao (Goodbye Beautiful)
2018  NYC Weights and Measures
2018  This Climate
2019  Makeshift (for Mekas)
2022  Ballad of Philip Guston
2022  Or Nothing (The Double)
2024  June Leaf
2024  Little, Big, and Far
2024  Robert and June (Cape Breton and NYC)
????  Gravity Hill Newsreels-Bella ciao

Sound Designer:
1986  At Close Range
1987  Matewan
1987  This Is a History of New York
1989  4:44 (from her house home)
1989  Glueman
1989  Just Hold Still
1989  Light Years
1991  Drink Deep
1991  R.E.M. - This Film Is On
1991  Sketches for Late City Final
1992  Black Hole Radio
1994  Buried in Light
1995  Nightswimming
1996  Lost Book Found
1997  Lucky Three: An Elliott Smith Portrait
1997  Museum
1999  Amber City
1999  Blood Orange Sky
1999  Instrument
2000  Benjamin Smoke
2000  Little Flags
2001  Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse
2002  The Foxx and Little Vic
2003  R.E.M.: In View 1988-2003 (The Best of R.E.M.)
2004  Chain
2006  Blessed Are the Dreams of Men
2006  Building a Broken Mousetrap
2007  A Tale of Two Cities
2007  Spirit (Smells Like Teen Spirit)
2007  free
2008  Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin
2008  Half The Battle
2009  Chinatown Film Project
2009  Le bled (Buildings in a Field)
2009  Long for the City (Patti Smith in New York)
2009  Night Scene New York
2010  Anne Truitt, Working
2010  Crossing Paths with Luce Vigo
2010  Roscoe Holcomb from Daisy, Kentucky
2011  Gravity Hill Newsreels: Occupy Wall Street
2012  20 Little Films
2012  Museum Hours
2013  Helianthus Corner Blues
2014  The Film That Buys the Cinema
2015  Counting
2015  We Have an Anchor
2016  Bury Me Not
2016  On Essex Road
2016  Peter Hutton
2016  World Without End (No Reported Incidents)
2017  Birth of a Nation
2018  MARC RIBOT FEAT. TOM WAITS – Bella Ciao (Goodbye Beautiful)
2018  NYC Weights and Measures
2018  This Climate
2019  Makeshift (for Mekas)
2022  Ballad of Philip Guston
2022  Or Nothing (The Double)
2024  June Leaf
2024  Little, Big, and Far
2024  Robert and June (Cape Breton and NYC)
????  Gravity Hill Newsreels-Bella ciao

Sound Editor:
1986  At Close Range
1987  Matewan
1987  This Is a History of New York
1989  4:44 (from her house home)
1989  Glueman
1989  Just Hold Still
1989  Light Years
1991  Drink Deep
1991  R.E.M. - This Film Is On
1991  Sketches for Late City Final
1992  Black Hole Radio
1994  Buried in Light
1995  Nightswimming
1996  Lost Book Found
1997  Lucky Three: An Elliott Smith Portrait
1997  Museum
1999  Amber City
1999  Blood Orange Sky
1999  Instrument
2000  Benjamin Smoke
2000  Little Flags
2001  Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse
2002  The Foxx and Little Vic
2003  R.E.M.: In View 1988-2003 (The Best of R.E.M.)
2004  Chain
2006  Blessed Are the Dreams of Men
2006  Building a Broken Mousetrap
2007  A Tale of Two Cities
2007  Spirit (Smells Like Teen Spirit)
2007  free
2008  Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin
2008  Half The Battle
2009  Chinatown Film Project
2009  Le bled (Buildings in a Field)
2009  Long for the City (Patti Smith in New York)
2009  Night Scene New York
2010  Anne Truitt, Working
2010  Crossing Paths with Luce Vigo
2010  Roscoe Holcomb from Daisy, Kentucky
2011  Gravity Hill Newsreels: Occupy Wall Street
2012  20 Little Films
2012  Museum Hours
2013  Helianthus Corner Blues
2014  The Film That Buys the Cinema
2015  Counting
2015  We Have an Anchor
2016  Bury Me Not
2016  On Essex Road
2016  Peter Hutton
2016  World Without End (No Reported Incidents)
2017  Birth of a Nation
2018  MARC RIBOT FEAT. TOM WAITS – Bella Ciao (Goodbye Beautiful)
2018  NYC Weights and Measures
2018  This Climate
2019  Makeshift (for Mekas)
2022  Ballad of Philip Guston
2022  Or Nothing (The Double)
2024  June Leaf
2024  Little, Big, and Far
2024  Robert and June (Cape Breton and NYC)
????  Gravity Hill Newsreels-Bella ciao

Writer:
1986  At Close Range
1987  Matewan
1987  This Is a History of New York
1989  4:44 (from her house home)
1989  Glueman
1989  Just Hold Still
1989  Light Years
1991  Drink Deep
1991  R.E.M. - This Film Is On
1991  Sketches for Late City Final
1992  Black Hole Radio
1994  Buried in Light
1995  Nightswimming
1996  Lost Book Found
1997  Lucky Three: An Elliott Smith Portrait
1997  Museum
1999  Amber City
1999  Blood Orange Sky
1999  Instrument
2000  Benjamin Smoke
2000  Little Flags
2001  Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse
2002  The Foxx and Little Vic
2003  R.E.M.: In View 1988-2003 (The Best of R.E.M.)
2004  Chain
2006  Blessed Are the Dreams of Men
2006  Building a Broken Mousetrap
2007  A Tale of Two Cities
2007  Spirit (Smells Like Teen Spirit)
2007  free
2008  Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin
2008  Half The Battle
2009  Chinatown Film Project
2009  Le bled (Buildings in a Field)
2009  Long for the City (Patti Smith in New York)
2009  Night Scene New York
2010  Anne Truitt, Working
2010  Crossing Paths with Luce Vigo
2010  Roscoe Holcomb from Daisy, Kentucky
2011  Gravity Hill Newsreels: Occupy Wall Street
2012  20 Little Films
2012  Museum Hours
2013  Helianthus Corner Blues
2014  The Film That Buys the Cinema
2015  Counting
2015  We Have an Anchor
2016  Bury Me Not
2016  On Essex Road
2016  Peter Hutton
2016  World Without End (No Reported Incidents)
2017  Birth of a Nation
2018  MARC RIBOT FEAT. TOM WAITS – Bella Ciao (Goodbye Beautiful)
2018  NYC Weights and Measures
2018  This Climate
2019  Makeshift (for Mekas)
2022  Ballad of Philip Guston
2022  Or Nothing (The Double)
2024  June Leaf
2024  Little, Big, and Far
2024  Robert and June (Cape Breton and NYC)
????  Gravity Hill Newsreels-Bella ciao

Click the heading above to show or hide the list.

About the Movie Section

Most data and links to images for the Movies section come from TheMovieDB (TMDB).

Additional data for Film Titles come from The Open Movie Database (OMDb).

At least one plug-in comes from IMDb.

Data are -- hey, it's a plural -- subject to the limitations of their sources. (For example, TMDB search results currently max out at 20.) I am limiting myself to free data sources for now. (No, a "free trial" is not free.)

While much of the above data are retrieved directly from outside APIs and other such sources, data from American Film Institute (AFI) and British Film Institute (BFI) were manually entered the old fashioned way into a MySQL database. Re BFI I took the following liberties:

  • I added "runners up" to Top 10 lists, treating them as ties where applicable and numbering them accordingly at the bottom of each list.
  • Regarding those polls wherein "franchise" movies were submitted as one project until BFI's policy changed to regard them separately, I treated them as ties and renumbered the affected lists accordingly (e.g. the Godfather films).

Regarding profile removals and data corrections:

  • If you would like your profile removed from this site, please contact the source of this data directly, TheMovieDB. My assumption is: once it's gone from their site, it should soon be gone from this site.
  • If you would like to correct movie data on this site, please contact the source of this data directly, TheMovieDB. My assumption is: once it's corrected on their site, it should soon be corrected on this site.
  • For additional corrections and profile removals, please e-mail The Open Movie Database (OMDb).

Filtering is applied here to film projects flagged as "adult" by TheMovieDB. Pending "popular demand" I am contemplating a login and profile system with preferences (such as whether to allow adult images to appear) and permissions (such as data entry).

Whereas the overall purpose of this website is to serve as a personal demo/portfolio/workshop of web and data skills, this Movies section is not meant to compete with or substitute for far more definitive movie websites.

Whether or not he still clings to an award which he won in 1986 as a film critic for his college's newspaper, Jeffrey Hartmann is not responsible for the texts of overviews and biographies supplied by external data sources.