Tom White

I "attended" Sundance online, and saw 14 docs and 3 Beyond Film talks in 5 days. My top 7 faves:
1) American Doctor
2) Soul Patrol
3) The Oldest Person in the World
4) One in a Million
5) Birds of War
6) Closure
7) Everybody to Kenmure Street

An Open Letter to Richard Grenell The nonprofit arts were built to do what the market cannot. Confusing that with failure puts our cultural infrastructure at risk.

For those of us who have toiled in the nonprofit arts sector for most of our careers, this is a hefty rejoinder to the takeover/run/pillage/plunder-crazed regime. emilkang.substack.com/p/an-open-le...

My Favorite Performances (continued)

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding–Jocelyn Bloh (Mark Taper Forum, LA)
The Great Yes, The Great No–William Kentridge (The Wallis, Beverly Hills)

May 2026 be a spirited and righteous march towards freedom, peace, and love.

My Favorite Performances (continued)

Ravi Coltrane (REDCAT, LA)
Berimbau: Sounds of Resilience (Grand Performances, LA)
Doug Aitken: Lightscape (Marciana Art Foundation, LA)

My Favorite Performances

Rhiannon Giddens (Hollywood Bowl, LA)
Angelique Kidjo and Yo-yo Ma (Hollywood Bowl, LA)
Esperanza Spaulding (Music Center, LA)
Roger Guenveur Smith: In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat (Inside-Out Theater, LA)
Kamasi Washington: Harmony of Difference (LACMA, LA)

My Favorite Exhibits (continued)

Wilfredo Lam: When I Sleep, I Dream (MOMA, NYC)
Jeffrey Gibson: The Space in which to Place Me (The Broad, LA)
Noah Davis (Hammer Museum, LA)
Imagining Black Diasporas (LACMA, LA)
Studio Museum reopening (Studio Museum, NYC)

My Favorite Exhibits

Monuments (MOCA/The Brick; LA)
Alice Coltrane, Monument Eternal (Hammer Museum, LA)
Derek Fourdjour: Nightsong (David Kordansky Gallery, LA)
Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers (Guggenheim Museum, NYC)
Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective (MOMA, NYC)

My Favorite Books

Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (Blight)
James (Everett)
Parable of the Sower (Butler)
On Freedom (Snyder)
Parable of the Talents (Butler)
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Marquez)
The Vegetarian (Kang)
Colored Television (Senna)
Endling (Reva)
Black Skin, White Masks (Fanon)

My Favorite First-Watch Films (pre-2024)

Synechdoche, NY (Kaufman)
Beau Travail (Denis)
Maya Darpan (Shahani)
Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)
La Chimera (Rohrwacher)
The Florida Project (Baker)
Zola (Bravo)
Rye Lane (Miller)
Deep Listening (Weintraub)
Naked Acts (Davis)

My Favorite Docs

My Undesirable Friends Part I–Last Air in Moscow
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions
Below the Clouds
The Perfect Neighbor
Predators
Orwell: 2+2=5
Apocalypse in the Tropics
Seeds
The Tale of Silyan
Afternoons of Solitude

My Favorite Fiction Films–As usual, I saw more nonfiction than fiction, and I’ll spend the better part of 2026 catching up on 2025, but these eight stood out for me:

Sinners
One Battle after Another
The Secret Agent
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
Wake up, Dead man
Sorry, Baby
Hamnet
Love, Brooklyn

This most dispiriting of years called for a double dose of righteous resistance and furious joy. And I am grateful for the artists who proclaimed their presence loudly and proudly and delivered a multitude of reasons to believe.

And so I offer my 3rd annual Lists of My Favorite Things from 2025.

Trump Dishonors the Kennedy Center A memorial to John F. Kennedy and his respect for the freedom of the arts has been renamed for a man with authoritarian instincts.

JFK: "I look forward to an America which will reward achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business or statecraft."

Trump: “I’ve always felt that a lot of modern art is a con.”

www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Rob Reiner: “Silence in the face of authoritarianism is complicity. Speaking out is a patriotic act. Democracy doesn’t defend itself. It requires participation, vigilance, and courage from ordinary people."

Gotham Awards Film Nominations: ‘One Battle After Another’ Leads Pack; Multiple Noms For ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’, ‘It Was Just An Accident’, ‘No Other Choice’ The 2025 Gotham Awards nominations have been announced.

Kudos to the Gotham Film Awards nominees, and a special shout out to the docs: 2000 Meters to Andriivka; BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions; My Undesirable Friends; The Perfect Neighbor; Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk : deadline.com/2025/10/2025...

A day late, I know, but kudos to all the @criticschoice.bsky.social doc nominees, including multiple honorees Orwell: 2+2=5 and The Perfect Neighbor, Pennebaker Award honorees Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady; and Impact Award honoree Ken Burns. www.criticschoice.com/2025/10/14/n...

YouTube video by samuel D'Angelo ft. Princess Sometimes It Snows in April

Farewell, D'Angelo. Although "Sometimes It Snows in April" wasn't your song, you owned it here. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeV7...

Congratulations to Garrett Bradley, Tommy Orange and the rest of the awesome crew of 2025 @macfound.org "Genius" Fellows. Amidst all the dispiritng dystopia, you have inspired us to stand, stomp, and stir up good trouble! Thank you for your gifts! www.macfound.org/programs/awa...

We are deeply saddened by the loss of our founder and friend Robert Redford.

The Story Of The Beach Boys' 'Good Vibrations' The Beach Boys classic, released in 1966, is the product of a revolutionary approach to songwriting.

A tough week for LA: Trump's performative provocation...losing Sly Stone...and now Brian Wilson is gone. What woke me up to his genius was this deconstruction of "Good Vibrations," part of NPR's 100 Songs series from 2000.
"I don't know where, but she sends me there"
www.npr.org/2000/06/19/1...

Sly Stone, Maestro of a Multifaceted, Hitmaking Band, Dies at 82

Amidst this ongoing American tragedy, we just lost one of the great geniuses of the past 60 years. Thank you for letting us be ourselves again, Sly. Thanks for taking us higher. We will stand in your honor.
P.s. Much love to our friend in frequency, Novena Carmel.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/a...

Hot Docs Industry Conference: Truth and Bias in the Age of Trump, Influencers, and AI - POV Magazine Highlights from the Hot Docs Industry Conference included conversations about navigating truth and bias in the Trump era, and artificial intelligence.

Here's my report on the @hotdocs.bsky.social Industry Conference for @povmagazine.bsky.social. Thanks to @marcglassman.bsky.social and @patmullen.bsky.social for their editorial guidance.
povmagazine.com/hot-docs-ind...

ITVS study explores the complex relationships at the heart of documentaries - Current The ITVS team was most surprised to learn that 89% of documentary participants indicated that they would participate in a documentary again.

In my "Current" debut, I spoke to some of the key drivers behind ITVS’ groundbreaking study, The Filmmaker-Participant Relationship Unpacked. Thanks to Mike Janssen and Karen Everhart for their editorial rigor.
current.org/2025/05/itvs...

Nominees in Docs, News, Public Service, Podcast Announced - The Peabody Awards The Peabody Awards and Center for Media & Social Impact Launch We Disrupt This Broadcast, New Podcast Featuring Interviews with Quinta Brunson, Damon Lindelof, Ramy Youssef, Pamela Adlon, Charlie Broo...

Kudos to the @peabodyawards.bsky.social nominees! peabodyawards.com/stories/nomi...

YouTube video by CBS News Watch Live: Cory Booker delivers marathon speech on Senate floor | CBS News

This is democracy in action. Senator Cory Booker has been on fire against fascism for 19 hours. This is what it takes. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSHV...

Rob Manfred pledged to keep MLB's values on diversity “unchanged" back in February.

But now, MLB's careers home page has no reference to “diversity," with a league spokesman telling The Athletic they're "evaluating" the programs.

More:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/622...

And the Summer Olympics in 28...

‘Free Leonard Peltier’ Follows A 50-Year Trail To Justice For Native American Icon – Thessaloniki Int’l Documentary Festival 'Free Leonard Peltier' directors David France and Jesse Short Bull on Native American icon's 50 year trail to freedom.

Between its world premiere at @sundancefilm.bsky.social #sundancefest & its international premiere at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, I spoke with Jesse Short Bull & David France about their film "Free Leonard Peltier." Thanks to @deadline.com & Matt Carey. deadline.com/2025/03/free...

Israeli-Palestinian film wins Oscar, directors assail US, global political stances "No Other Land," a film about Israeli displacement of a Palestinian community, won the documentary feature film Oscar on Sunday, and its directors appealed to the world to help end the conflict and accused the United States of blocking a solution.

‘No Other Land,’ a film about Israeli displacement of a Palestinian community, won the documentary feature film Oscar, and its directors appealed to the world to help end the conflict and accused the United States of blocking a solution reut.rs/41oltqZ #Oscars2025

“Seeds,” “Cutting Through Rocks” among Sundance Grand Jury Prize winners The winners of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival Awards were revealed at a ceremony in Park City, Utah on Friday (January 31), with Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. documentary ...

Kudos to the winners in the doc categories at Sundance 25!

realscreen.com/2025/01/31/%...