Andrew Cohen (filmmaker)
Andrew "Andy" Cohen (born March 16, 1965) is an independent filmmaker and journalist whose work focuses on human rights issues and social change. The founder of AC Films Inc, Cohen has directed, written, and produced feature-length and short form documentaries. Cohen produced and co-wrote his first film in 1996, Gaylen Ross' Dealers Among Dealers,[1][2] about the New York City diamond business. Cohen would later co-write and produce Ross' 2008 documentary Killing Kasztner on the life and assassination of Rezso Kasztner.[3][4]
Andy Cohen | |
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Born | |
Occupation | Director, Producer, Journalist |
Website | https://www.acfilmsinc.com/ |
Career
Cohen's work as a producer includes Ai Weiwei's Human Flow,[5] Hooligan Sparrow,[6] Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry,[7][8] and The World Before Her. His work has been featured at the Venice Film Festival,[9] Telluride, Tribeca Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, and Sundance Film Festival.
Cohen and Ross directed the documentary Ximei,[10][11] which premiered at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva.[12] Produced by Al Weiwei, the film is centered around Lui Ximei, a Chinese peasant woman who was infected with AIDS in the 1990s. Production of Ximei[13] lasted seven years, due to interference from Chinese officials; Cohen's phone and internet messages were spied on and parts of footage were regularly confiscated.[14] Cohen also participated in Global Geneva's first ‘Youth Writes’ (Young Journalists and Writers Initiative) workshop in Versoix, Switzerland, in March 2019, helping high school students better understand the role of documentary film reporting.[15]
His feature-length documentary, Beijing Spring, premiering in 2020, chronicles China's first Democracy movement and protest demonstration for artistic freedom following China's brutal Cultural Revolution.[16][17]
Filmography
- Dealers Among Dealers (1996) - producer
- Killing Kasztner (2008) - producer
- Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012) - executive producer
- The World Before Her (2012) - executive producer
- Hooligan Sparrow (2016) - executive producer
- Human Flow (2017) - executive producer
- Ximei (2019) - writer, director, producer
- Beijing Spring (2020) - writer, director, producer
- Village Gate (2020) - writer, director, producer
References
- "Dealers Among Dealers | POV | PBS".
- "Credits | Dealers Among Dealers | POV | PBS". 1995-01-11.
- Holden, Stephen (2009-10-22). "Rudolf Kastner, Who Was (or Wasn't?) a Holocaust Hero". The New York Times.
- "Killing Kasztner: The Jew Who Dealt with Nazis -- Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
- "Refugee Crisis Doc 'Human Flow' Acquired by Amazon (Exclusive". The Hollywood Reporter).
- "Credits | Hooligan Sparrow | POV | PBS". 2016-01-10.
- "AI Weiwei: Never Sorry".
- "Motto Pictures » AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY".
- "AI Weiwei Refugee Crisis Film Human Flow to be Screened at Venice".
- http://www.l-agenda.online/ximei/
- "La Via della Seta ha un baco, i diritti umani". L'HuffPost. March 28, 2019.
- "Film". fifdh.info.
- https://www.proceso.com.mx/581392/ximei-la-activista-que-desafia-al-gigante
- "Ximei documentary premieres at Geneva Human Rights Film Festival". euronews. March 19, 2019.
- https://www.global-geneva.com/china-and-the-golden-veins-of-henan-a-film-makers-view/
- "'Beijing Spring' documents China's forgotten struggle for freedom". September 25, 2017.
- https://www.welt.de/kultur/kino/plus198185345/Ai-Weiwei-Warum-ich-Berlin-und-Deutschland-verlasse-Eine-Abrechnung.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/movies/ximei-review.html
- https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-10-25/ximei-review-documentary-china-aids
- https://stories.mplus.org.hk/en/blog/the-story-of-chi-xiaoning-and-his-smuggled-camera/