Memorial Page for Arthur Cohn

Arthur Cohn (born 4 February 1927 in Basel; died 12 December 2025 in Jerusalem) was a Swiss film producer. Films in which he was involved received several Academy Awards, including documentaries and foreign-language feature films. Cohn worked between Basel, Los Angeles and international film teams.

Basel and journalism

Cohn was born into a Jewish family in Basel. His father Marcus Cohn was a lawyer, and his mother Rose Cohn-Galewski came from Berlin and wrote poetry. After school in Basel, Arthur Cohn first worked as a journalist, including for radio and the press. This proximity to reporting, research and international subjects later led him toward documentary film and production.

Producer of his own material

Cohn worked in production on financing, story development, scripts, editing and international distribution. His projects often arose across several countries and connected artistic authorship with a clear audience orientation. They included documentaries as well as feature films by directors such as Vittorio De Sica, Richard Dembo, Kevin Macdonald and Walter Salles.

Awarded films

His awarded works included Sky Above and Mud Beneath, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, Black and White in Color, Dangerous Moves, American Dream and One Day in September. The awards made Cohn one of the internationally visible Swiss producers. At the same time his work remained project-based: he sought material to which he could stay attached for a long time.

Working method and effect

Cohn's films often dealt with history, memory, political violence, migration or social conflict. He worked with European, American and South American partners and held to a producer's role that stayed close to the material. His production work spans a long series of internationally distributed films across documentary, drama and political cinema.

Farewell

Arthur Cohn died in Jerusalem on 12 December 2025. He was 98 years old. His career connects Swiss origins, international production and films that reached beyond national cinema markets.