Jem Cohen

(1996), (1999), and (2000), the first of Jem Cohen’s films that I encountered, were all made between the years 1996 and 2000—the apex of the anti-globalization movement, the early (more idealistic) dawn of the internet era, the last years of my teens. I was perhaps primed to be Cohen’s audience: my world was a post-punk music scene steeped in DIY aesthetics and anti-capitalist longings. I first saw Jem’s images projected behind, however inchoate, could also be part of the record.