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Rebecca Richman Cohen is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker and a lecturer at Harvard Law School. Her teaching and research examine the intersections of criminal justice, human rights, and visual culture, particularly how documentary film can shape legal narratives and accountability. Since her appointment in 2011, Cohen has been instrumental in integrating the complexities of storytelling into the discourse on judicial accountability. Her documentaries have covered a range of significant topics, including the prosecution of war crimes in Sierra Leone, responses to sexual violence in the United States, cannabis legalization, and the intricacies of biodynamic winemaking. Her works have received accolades at top-tier film festivals like SXSW and Tribeca, and have been showcased on platforms such as HBO, Netflix, and Amazon. In addition to her filmmaking, she has contributed writings to notable publications such as New York Inquest and Talkhouse, focusing on themes of ethics and accountability in storytelling. Cohen co-authored the 2025 Shorenstein Center report on ethics in documentary filmmaking and has held academic positions at several prestigious institutions, including Columbia University and the Rhode Island School of Design. She is actively involved with the Shorenstein Center’s Documentary Film in the Public Interest initiative at Harvard Kennedy School and is a former board member of the New Media Advocacy Project. Cohen holds a B.A. in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies from Brown University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Harvard Law School • Cambridge, Massachusetts
Teaches courses related to law, documentary film, and human rights.
Applied for under 'Department of Law', 'Department of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law', 'Department of Constitutional Law', 'Department of Japanese Legal Studies', and 'Department of Human Rights'.