Anthony Kaufman
@antkaufman.bsky.social
Increasingly political film journalist (Subscribe to https://anthonykaufman.substack.com, articles in Filmmakermagazine.com, Documentary.org, Indiewire.com); film curator/programmer (chicagofilmfestival.com; doc10.org); film instructor (NewSchool, DePaul)
"There’s something particularly and grotesquely sycophantic and morally bankrupt about Bezos’ recent reign that might make filmmakers, directors, showrunners, and writers, et. al. think twice about working for Amazon these days."
anthonykaufman.substack.com/p/melania-is...
anthonykaufman.substack.com/p/melania-is...
"Melania" Is Not a Documentary
And Amazon is not a media company.
anthonykaufman.substack.com
January 30, 2026 at 6:41 PM
"There’s something particularly and grotesquely sycophantic and morally bankrupt about Bezos’ recent reign that might make filmmakers, directors, showrunners, and writers, et. al. think twice about working for Amazon these days."
anthonykaufman.substack.com/p/melania-is...
anthonykaufman.substack.com/p/melania-is...
Call it a very expensive commercial; a campaign ad; glossy propaganda; MAGA porn—but it is not a documentary, and to call it one is an insult to documentary filmmakers everywhere. My fellow media, please stop calling it a doc.
January 30, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Call it a very expensive commercial; a campaign ad; glossy propaganda; MAGA porn—but it is not a documentary, and to call it one is an insult to documentary filmmakers everywhere. My fellow media, please stop calling it a doc.
Reposted by Anthony Kaufman
.@votebeat.org is hiring a Senior National Reporter to cover issues of voting and democracy in 2026 and beyond. Reach out if you're interested in applying, we're a great place to work! workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
Recruitment
workforcenow.adp.com
January 28, 2026 at 6:26 PM
.@votebeat.org is hiring a Senior National Reporter to cover issues of voting and democracy in 2026 and beyond. Reach out if you're interested in applying, we're a great place to work! workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
Reposted by Anthony Kaufman
I think lethal force against a target who didn't pose a threat is a long way of saying "murder".
www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
Video: New Video Analysis Reveals Flawed and Fatal Decisions in Shooting of Pretti
A frame-by-frame assessment of actions by Alex Pretti and the two officers who fired 10 times shows how lethal force came to be used against a target who didn’t pose a threat.
www.nytimes.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:32 AM
I think lethal force against a target who didn't pose a threat is a long way of saying "murder".
www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
"While we’re faced with the growing momentum of authoritarian rule... it’s important that we continue to embrace our humanity and to love each other, even as we face this large political challenge.” - @alexgibneyfilm.bsky.social at Sundance with his new film KNIFE
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
Notes from the Sundance Bubble
Looking for Movies that Speak to the Moment
open.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 6:01 PM
"While we’re faced with the growing momentum of authoritarian rule... it’s important that we continue to embrace our humanity and to love each other, even as we face this large political challenge.” - @alexgibneyfilm.bsky.social at Sundance with his new film KNIFE
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
On the third day of this year’s Sundance, it became increasingly difficult for some Park City audiences to stay inside the bubble.
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
January 26, 2026 at 3:43 PM
On the third day of this year’s Sundance, it became increasingly difficult for some Park City audiences to stay inside the bubble.
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
DHS is lying.
www.threads.com/@keithedward...
www.threads.com/@keithedward...
Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) on Threads
BREAKING: this is the footage from the woman in pink filming from the sidewalk.
Via drop site news
www.threads.com
January 24, 2026 at 8:38 PM
DHS is lying.
www.threads.com/@keithedward...
www.threads.com/@keithedward...
All five documentaries nominated for the Oscar premiered at Sundance last year. (I wrote this last year; today's news reaffirms it)
www.documentary.org/online-featu...
www.documentary.org/online-featu...
Sundance May Now Be the World’s Most Important Documentary Launchpad
It’s not called the Sundance “International” Film Festival, but it has become increasingly so, becoming one of the most vital global launchpads for nonfiction work. Despite the fact that there have ye...
www.documentary.org
January 22, 2026 at 2:39 PM
All five documentaries nominated for the Oscar premiered at Sundance last year. (I wrote this last year; today's news reaffirms it)
www.documentary.org/online-featu...
www.documentary.org/online-featu...
The media needs to start calling Trump's Republican Party America's "far right" or "extreme right." They are no different from Germany's AfD, France's National Front, or Hungary's Fidesz parties. Why isn't this happening?
January 21, 2026 at 4:13 PM
The media needs to start calling Trump's Republican Party America's "far right" or "extreme right." They are no different from Germany's AfD, France's National Front, or Hungary's Fidesz parties. Why isn't this happening?
Since Renee Good was killed by an ICE agent two weeks ago, I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of documenting injustice, of bearing witness, of short-form content and vertical video, and the media’s increasing role in defining reality and preserving democracy.
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
The Importance of Bearing Witness (and Short Content)
With Sundance days away, the industry's eyes will be on feature films, but short-form content may be the last bulwark against America's descent into totalitarian media control.
open.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 5:26 PM
Since Renee Good was killed by an ICE agent two weeks ago, I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of documenting injustice, of bearing witness, of short-form content and vertical video, and the media’s increasing role in defining reality and preserving democracy.
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
The great long-form long-haul feature documentary storytellers may need to start working on short films & media advocacy quickly, because there may not be non-aligned media platforms in place for them to show their films by the time they finish them.
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
The Importance of Bearing Witness (and Short Content)
With Sundance days away, the industry's eyes will be on feature films, but short-form content may be the last bulwark against America's descent into totalitarian media control.
open.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 9:43 PM
The great long-form long-haul feature documentary storytellers may need to start working on short films & media advocacy quickly, because there may not be non-aligned media platforms in place for them to show their films by the time they finish them.
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
After being yanked out of her car, she tells them she is disabled and going to the doctor. But that doesn't stop them from throwing her to the ground.
Today at 34 & Park in Minneapolis, a woman tried to drive down the street where a protest had broken out in front of a home ICE was raiding, saying she had a doctor apt to get to. ICE agents busted out her windows, cut off her seatbelt, and pulled her out before arresting her.
January 13, 2026 at 10:16 PM
After being yanked out of her car, she tells them she is disabled and going to the doctor. But that doesn't stop them from throwing her to the ground.
Important work from ProPublica.
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
We Found More Than 40 Cases of Immigration Agents Using Banned Chokeholds and Other Moves That Can Cut Off Breathing
Civilians have had apparent seizures. One had his eyes roll back. Another had ribs broken. “I felt like I was going to pass out and die,” said a 16-year-old citizen put in a chokehold. The government ...
www.propublica.org
January 13, 2026 at 5:56 PM
Important work from ProPublica.
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
Doc filmmakers, follow this.
George Retes is an American citizen and veteran who was unjustly pepper-sprayed, arrested, and imprisoned for three days by ICE.
Yet he won't be intimidated by this lawless administration. He's speaking up and telling his story as part of a new $250k @ofthebraveusa.bsky.social campaign. 👇
Yet he won't be intimidated by this lawless administration. He's speaking up and telling his story as part of a new $250k @ofthebraveusa.bsky.social campaign. 👇
January 12, 2026 at 9:41 PM
Doc filmmakers, follow this.
I tried my best to fact-check the claims going viral that Kristi Noem's "One of Ours All Of Yours" echoes a Nazi or Franco rallying cry, and it just doesn't seem to true. However, Scorsese's 1990 mob classic "Goodfellas" was called "Uno de los nuestros" ("One of Ours") in Spanish, so mafia it is.
January 12, 2026 at 6:58 PM
I tried my best to fact-check the claims going viral that Kristi Noem's "One of Ours All Of Yours" echoes a Nazi or Franco rallying cry, and it just doesn't seem to true. However, Scorsese's 1990 mob classic "Goodfellas" was called "Uno de los nuestros" ("One of Ours") in Spanish, so mafia it is.
Remember their names, too. These are the 16 people killed in ICE detention since Trump took office, the highest number of deaths ever recorded in a single year.
www.ice.gov/detain/detai...
www.ice.gov/detain/detai...
January 8, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Remember their names, too. These are the 16 people killed in ICE detention since Trump took office, the highest number of deaths ever recorded in a single year.
www.ice.gov/detain/detai...
www.ice.gov/detain/detai...
Just a reminder: This is not the first ICE murder. Remember Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez.
www.reuters.com/world/us/pol...
www.reuters.com/world/us/pol...
Footage of deadly ICE shooting in Chicago suburb challenges official narrative
Silverio Villegas Gonzalez was pulled over and eventually shot by an ICE agent.
www.reuters.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Just a reminder: This is not the first ICE murder. Remember Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez.
www.reuters.com/world/us/pol...
www.reuters.com/world/us/pol...
I am reminded of Ra'anan Alexandrowicz's THE VIEWING BOOTH when reading about MAGA folks' reaction to the videos of the ICE officer killing a woman. Even with indisputable evidence, they will find a way to rationalize their faulty belief systems.
www.theviewingboothfilm.com/en/the-film
www.theviewingboothfilm.com/en/the-film
The Viewing Booth
The Viewing Booth explores a space ostensibly off-limits to cinema — the internal experience of a viewer. Unique in its form and structure, the film turns its camera away from the world and towards M...
www.theviewingboothfilm.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:39 PM
I am reminded of Ra'anan Alexandrowicz's THE VIEWING BOOTH when reading about MAGA folks' reaction to the videos of the ICE officer killing a woman. Even with indisputable evidence, they will find a way to rationalize their faulty belief systems.
www.theviewingboothfilm.com/en/the-film
www.theviewingboothfilm.com/en/the-film
Reposted by Anthony Kaufman
The Trace has been tracking shootings connected to Trump's immigration crackdowns — an important project that I had somehow missed but shines today: www.thetrace.org/2025/12/immi...
How Many People Have Been Shot in ICE Raids?
The Trace is tracking gun incidents connected to Trump’s immigration crackdown. Know of one? Please be in touch.
www.thetrace.org
January 7, 2026 at 8:10 PM
The Trace has been tracking shootings connected to Trump's immigration crackdowns — an important project that I had somehow missed but shines today: www.thetrace.org/2025/12/immi...
At this rate, maybe the Democrats could take the House BEFORE the midterms.
@taniel.bsky.social @the-downballot.com
@taniel.bsky.social @the-downballot.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:59 PM
At this rate, maybe the Democrats could take the House BEFORE the midterms.
@taniel.bsky.social @the-downballot.com
@taniel.bsky.social @the-downballot.com