Julie Sokolow (A&S ’10) is an award-winning documentary film director, writer, and musician. Sokolow completed her bachelor’s in psychology, English writing, and film studies at the University of Pittsburgh in 2010, graduating with summa cum laude honors.
When she was 19, she released an album, Something About Violins, through the independent record label Western Vinyl. The album earned acclaim from Spin, Pitchfork, WIRE, and the Washington Post. In 2012 after becoming interested in documentary filmmaking while attending Pitt, she created the documentary series Healthy Artists, which profiled over 40 artists who were either uninsured or underinsured. The series, and Sokolow, would go on to be featured in The New York Times in 2014.
Sokolow directed her first feature documentary, Aspie Finds Love, in 2015 where it debuted at the Cinequest Film Festival. The documentary chronicled a writer diagnosed with Aspergers in his quest to find a partner. It won best documentary at the festival and was later screened at film festivals worldwide.
Her second feature documentary, Woman on Fire premiered at DOC NYC in 2016 and tells the story of Brooke Guinan, a third-generation firefighter and the first openly transgender firefighter in New York. The film gained acclaim from Salon, The Village Voice, and IndieWire.
Barefoot: The Mark Baumer Story, Sokolow’s third feature, premiered at the Heartland International Film Festival in 2019 where it won Best Premiere Documentary.
Sokolow is a regular contributor to Salon, Huffington Post, and HTMLGIANT. Most recently, in 2023, she received her Master of Social Work from Pitt.