Noah Cohen is a filmmaker, theatre-maker, actor, and the Director of Cinematography and Editing for The Centre for the Less Good Idea.

With a background in acting for stage and film, Cohen’s subsequent interest in filmmaking led him from the United States to Canada, before moving down to South Africa in 2016. Shortly after arriving in the country, he met the founder of the Centre for the Less Good Idea William Kentridge, and was brought on to help with the production of The Centre’s debut Season. Following Season 1, Cohen moved away from the more administrative roles he was occupied with and began editing the process-based footage filmed throughout the course of the Season. He has fulfilled this role, as well as the role of Director of Cinematography and Editing, since.

At The Centre, Cohen is interested in the challenge of documenting, guiding, and sharing the diverse and immense personal processes of the artists through the medium of film. The precarious act of documenting, distilling, and reflecting the creative process in a way that both informs and inspires The Centre’s artists and audiences is of great importance to him. While a level of proficiency and technical knowledge around filming for performances is key, Cohen’s alignment with the central ethos of The Centre informs his way of working in the space – engaging in an experimental and collaborative creative process, watching it fail and succeed in equally productive ways, and bearing witness to it all. Similarly, his history of performance lends him a certain empathy for what takes place on stage and in The Centre’s workshops. The result of all of these ways of working sees Cohen filming and editing with a gentle, considered, and critical eye, always with the intention of working alongside the creative process, and archiving from the margins of that process.

With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cohen’s role has become decidedly more filmic and sees him as an active collaborator in the filming of The Centre’s work – a creative eye in the technical aspects as well as in the edits. More recently, he has also moved into a mentorship role, working to train and upskill young filmmakers at The Centre. Ultimately, Cohen views The Centre as a productively unresolved space, the pliability and uncertainty of which finds strong resonance with his own practice. Collaboration, improvisation, and a commitment to reflecting the unique processes of The Centre and its growing network of collaborators remain central to the work he does.

PHOTOGRAPHER | Zivanai Matangi