Bruce Cohen is an Academy Award-winning producer of film, television, theater and live events. He began his film career as the Directors Guild of America trainee on Steven Spielberg's THE COLOR PURPLE (1985), and went on to serve as associate producer and first assistant director on Mr. Spielberg's HOOK (1991).

Bruce won the Best Picture Oscar for producing AMERICAN BEAUTY (1999). He earned additional Best Picture nominations for MILK (2008) and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (2012). AMERICAN BEAUTY, directed by Sam Mendes, won a total of five Oscars, as well as the Golden Globe, British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA), and Producers Guild of America (PGA) awards. MILK, directed by Gus Van Sant, was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won Oscars for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay, as well as the PGA's Stanley Kramer Award.

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, written and directed by David O. Russell, was nominated for eight Oscars. It was the first film in 31 years to be nominated in all four acting categories, and Jennifer Lawrence won the Oscar in the Best Actress category. 

"For over a century, our countries have both valued cinema as a means of expanding cultural understanding. Time and again we've broken down the barriers between us by sharing our cinematic achievements. Our hope in screening the 2009 Academy Award winning film Milk -- about the late civil rights leader, Harvey Milk -- is to encourage respectful conversations that might create deeper understanding. Cinema has that power. For this reason, we would like to bring our film to your country and participate in the meaningful dialogue we feel certain this screening will create between the people of our great nations."

Gus Van Sant, Dustin Lance Black & Bruce Cohen