Julie Cohen

Directing

Julie Cohen

Julie Cohen is the Academy Award® nominated, Emmy winning director and producer of RBG (2018) along with Betsy West. Also with West, she directed Julia (2021) and My Name is Pauli Murray (2021). Previous films include The Sturgeon Queens, American Veteran and I Live to Sing. Before making documentaries, Julie was a producer for NBC News.

Known For

RBGRBG · 2018
RBG
7.52018
MovieDocumentary
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg now 84, and still inspired by the lawyers who defended free speech during the Red Scare, Ginsburg refuses to relinquish her passionate duty, steadily fighting for equal rights for all citizens under the law. Through intimate interviews and unprecedented access to Ginsburg’s life outside the court, RBG tells the electric story of Ginsburg’s consuming love affairs with both the Constitution and her beloved husband Marty—and of a life’s work that led her to become an icon of justice in the highest court in the land.
Cashing OutCashing Out · 2024
Cashing Out
7.02024
MovieDocumentary
At the height of the AIDS crisis, many gay men sold their life insurance policies to investors for quick cash. This documentary charts the rise and fall of the hundred-million-dollar “gay-death-profiteering” industry that grew out of their desperation, and spotlights one of its earliest investors: the filmmaker’s father.
Top of the World
NEW
Top of the World · 2026
Top of the World
2026
MovieDocumentary
Explores Windows on the World, the iconic restaurant that occupied the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Pretty Ugly: The Story of the LunachicksPretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks · 2026
Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks
8.02026
MovieDocumentaryMusic
Punk music icons, Lunachicks, reunite after 20 years in an unfiltered, hilarious, and electric documentary. Packed with rare archival footage, the film traces their rise from gritty NYC teens to feminist trailblazers of the 90s grunge era. Fans and newcomers alike will thrill as the band recounts old antics, rekindles bonds, and embarks on their long-awaited journey back to the stage.
Every BodyEvery Body · 2023
Every Body
5.22023
MovieDocumentary
Three intersex individuals overcame shame, secrecy and unauthorized surgery throughout their childhoods to enjoy successful adulthoods, choosing to ignore medical advice to conceal their bodies and coming out as who they truly are.
JuliaJulia · 2021
Julia
6.22021
MovieDocumentaryHistory
Using never-before-seen archival footage, personal photos, first-person narratives, and cutting-edge, mouth-watering food cinematography, the film traces Julia Child's surprising path, from her struggles to create and publish the revolutionary Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) which has sold more than 2.5 million copies to date, to her empowering story of a woman who found fame in her 50s, and her calling as an unlikely television sensation.
FridaFrida · 2024
Frida
6.82024
MovieDocumentary
An intimately raw and magical journey through the life, mind, and heart of iconic artist Frida Kahlo. Told through her own words for the very first time — drawn from her diary, revealing letters, essays, and print interviews — and brought vividly to life by lyrical animation inspired by her unforgettable artwork.
The Following People DO NOT Smoke WeedThe Following People DO NOT Smoke Weed · 2026
The Following People DO NOT Smoke Weed
2026
MovieDocumentaryComedy
A documentary filmmaker investigates who tried f*cking up her friends' lives a decade ago.

Filmography

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The Sturgeon QueensThe Sturgeon Queens · 2014
The Sturgeon Queens
6.02014
MovieDocumentary
Four generations of a Jewish immigrant family create Russ and Daughters, a Lower East Side lox and herring emporium that survives and thrives. Produced to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the store, this documentary features an extensive interview with two of the original daughters for whom the store was named, now 100 and 92 years old, and interviews with prominent enthusiasts of the store including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, chef Mario Batali, New Yorker writer Calvin Trillin, and 60 Minutes correspondent Morley Safer. Rather than a conventional narrator, the filmmakers bring together six colorful longtime fans of the store, in their 80s and 90s, who sit around a table of fish reading the script in the style of a passover Seder. - Written by Julie Cohen

Director