Robin Hessman

Robin Hessman is an American documentary filmmaker and producer known for her international Russiafocused storytelling She earned a dual degree in Russian and Film from Brown University and a graduate degree in film directing from the AllRussian State Institute of Cinematography VGIK in Moscow graduating with a red diploma of honors As a student she won a Student Academy Award with codirector James Longley for the short film Portrait of Boy with Dog 1994 Hessman lived in Russia for eight years working as the onsite producer for Ulitsa Sezam the original Russianlanguage adaptation of Sesame Street for the Childrens Television Workshop She went on to coproduce the Peabody Awardwinning documentary Tupperware 2005 and the PBS biography Julia Americas Favorite Chef She is best known for directing and producing My Perestroika 2010 which premiered in the US Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival aired on PBSs POV in 2011 won a Peabody Award and was named a New York Times Critics Pick She later served as executive producer on Mr Nobody Against Putin winner of the 2026 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and produced Arrest the Midwife POV Season 39 2026 with director Elaine Epstein Hessman is a member of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences the Council on Foreign Relations the Producers Guild of America the Television Academy and the Documentary Producers Alliance