Robin Hessman
Robin Hessman
Affiliations
AMPAS, PGA, TV Academy, DPA, CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) KSFEF (Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship.)Links to Work
Bio
Robin Hessman
Robin is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and creative producer. She most recently produced ARREST THE MIDWIFE (SXSW 2025, PBS, dir:Elaine Epstein) and is currently producing SISTER SENATORS (dir:Emily Harrold) and SURVIVAL FLOATING (dir:Tracy Heather Strain.) Additionally she produced SIMPLE AS WATER (Tribeca, HBOMax, dir: Megan Mylan) which was shortlisted for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and nominated for Peabody, Emmy, IDA and Producer Guild Awards in 2022. Previously Robin directed and produced the critically-acclaimed MY PERESTROIKA (Sundance, PBS/POV) which was a NY Times Critics Pick released in over 30 countries. She co-produced several PBS films including the Peabody Award-winning TUPPERWARE! and the American Masters biography of Julia Child. During a decade living in Russia, she produced ULITSA SEZAM, the Russian co-production of SESAME STREET and was the Documentary Direcor of AMFEST MOSCOW. In 2024 she founded Global Neighborhood to produce films by women filmmakers telling important global and local stories of our times. Robin is a member of the Documentary Branch of AMPAS, the Council on Foreign Relations, the PGA, the DPA, and is VP and a founding board member of the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship. Robin graduated from Brown University with an honors degree in Film (MCM) and Russian and received her graduate degree in film directing from VGIK - the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow, Russia.
Projects
ARREST THE MIDWIFE
Premiere SXSW 2025
As their midwives are arrested, the Amish and Mennonite women of upstate New York break from their traditions as an insular community to become unexpected activists, fighting for systemic change.
With exceptionally rare and intimate access, director Elaine Epstein crafts a powerful David-and-Goliath story of resilience and resistance. Set against the backdrop of America’s maternal health crisis and the erosion of reproductive rights, ARREST THE MIDWIFE is both a poignant portrait of a community in crisis and an urgent call to protect every woman’s right to choose how she brings the next generation into the world.
SISTER SENATORS
In Production
In Ruby Red South Carolina, the only five women in an overwhelmingly male and conservative State Senate defy party lines and fight for women’s rights. Their bipartisan unity becomes a rallying point for women across the Southeast–and a political weapon that is turned against them by their enemies.
With intimate access to the behind-the-scenes drama of local politics and power, SISTER SENATORS follows South Carolina’s only female state senators standing up for women’s rights, battling political challengers, and discovering a bond that transcends partisan politics.
SURVIVAL FLOATING
In Development
Sparked by memories of a near-drowning at a northern Black suburban swimming pool during 1960-70s-era segregation, Tracy Heather Strain, an African American swimmer/director takes an existential journey into Black vulnerability. SURVIVAL FLOATING weaves near and far histories of Black swimmers to contemplate pathways toward freedom and survival.
