Instrument

Jem Cohen is a New York-based producer working in 16mm and 8mm film and video. His poetic, often ephemeral, work is marked by a blurring of the distinctions between documentary, narrative, and experimental genres. Cohen frequently shoots in hundreds of locations without any additional crew, in the tradition of documentary street photographers such as Robert Frank. His projects include collaborations with poets, writers, and bands such as R.E.M. and Fugazi, creating alternatives to generic and commodified ‘music video.’
‘Instrument’ is a collaboration between Jem Cohen and the Washington DC band Fugazi, the project covers the ten year period from the bands inception in 1987. Far from a traditional documentary, the project is a musical document: a portrait of musicians at work.