Filmmaker Emily Cohen Ibañez pairs lyricism with social activism in her work, advocating for labor and environmental justice. Her feature documentary, FRUITS OF LABOR, about a teenage farm and factory worker, had its World Premiere at SXSW 2021 and broadcast on PBS POV | American Documentary. Cohen Ibañez works as a one-woman band to directing a 10-person team on set. She has taught at NYU, CUNY, UC Santa Cruz, and the Latino Film Institute.
She has completed two feature films, eight short films, and published nine written essays. Her films have screened at SXSW, Black Star, Ambulante, and SFFILM International Film Festival amongst many others. Her feature documentary, Fruits of Labor, won awards for best editing (BIFF 2021), best American profile (SF DocFest), and achievement in Social Impact (BAVC/Chicken & Egg 2021) and was nominated for best Latinx director and best Latinx documentary (NALIP 2021) and the Spotlight Award (Cinema Eye Honors, 2022). Her films have been supported by the National Science Foundation, Ford JustFilms, Field of Vision, Firelight Doc Lab, Chicken & Egg Pictures, and BAVC National Media Maker. She is developing her first screenplay, From Honey To Ashes, with support from SFFILM Rainin Grant. She is completing a short documentary film, River, with support from Points North Pretty Wild Fellowship and Inmaat Foundation. She is also currently making her third feature hybrid documentary, Orquidea, supported by Cinereach, NYFA Anonymous Was a Woman Grant, Eurodocs 2025, and Film Independent Story Lab. Cohen Ibañez earned her doctorate in Anthropology at New York University (2011) with a certificate in Culture and Media.
Classes taught at BAVC Media:
- Interviewing Techniques
