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)
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
What were the top-grossing documentaries at the U.S. box office in 2025--but more importantly, what can we learn from who released them and how they were released?
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
Are Docs Making a Comeback, Part 2
It ain't easy when the major theatrical distributors are largely abandoning nonfiction. Could 2026 be different?
open.substack.com
January 5, 2026 at 9:00 PM
What were the top-grossing documentaries at the U.S. box office in 2025--but more importantly, what can we learn from who released them and how they were released?
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
Please tell me this goes to a 11.
January 3, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Please tell me this goes to a 11.
Both indie docs "The Perfect Neighbor" and "Predators" premiered at #1 on their corporate streaming platforms, Netflix and Paramount+, respectfully, which should count for something.
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
Did Docs Make a Comeback in 2025?
Maybe not in theaters, but streaming could be another story.
open.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Both indie docs "The Perfect Neighbor" and "Predators" premiered at #1 on their corporate streaming platforms, Netflix and Paramount+, respectfully, which should count for something.
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
January 1, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Not The Onion
January 1, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Not The Onion
Capitulation is winning; truth is losing.
December 31, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Capitulation is winning; truth is losing.
No Safe Distance: As governments escalate transnational pressure campaigns, documentarians and programmers worldwide must choose between solidarity and safety.
www.documentary.org/online-featu...
www.documentary.org/online-featu...
No Safe Distance: How State Suppression of Documentaries Crosses Borders
As governments escalate transnational pressure campaigns, documentarians and programmers worldwide must choose between solidarity and safety
www.documentary.org
December 30, 2025 at 4:47 PM
No Safe Distance: As governments escalate transnational pressure campaigns, documentarians and programmers worldwide must choose between solidarity and safety.
www.documentary.org/online-featu...
www.documentary.org/online-featu...
@gelliottmorris.com This news seems to contradict your reporting on consumer sentiment. Would love for you to reconcile this spending report with your charts.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/b...
December 23, 2025 at 2:29 PM
@gelliottmorris.com This news seems to contradict your reporting on consumer sentiment. Would love for you to reconcile this spending report with your charts.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/b...
Information, run free!
Here is the CBS report, which was pulled from YouTube
@phillewis.bsky.social
dai.ly/x9w8gks
Here is the CBS report, which was pulled from YouTube
@phillewis.bsky.social
dai.ly/x9w8gks
December 23, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Information, run free!
Here is the CBS report, which was pulled from YouTube
@phillewis.bsky.social
dai.ly/x9w8gks
Here is the CBS report, which was pulled from YouTube
@phillewis.bsky.social
dai.ly/x9w8gks
Reposted by Anthony Kaufman
Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:
December 22, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:
"In a standard blackjack game, which offers some of the best odds of success for gamblers in a casino, the house edge typically ranges from 0.5% to 2%. That’s probably about the same chance of turning a profit in the world of independent film."
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
December 22, 2025 at 4:55 PM
"In a standard blackjack game, which offers some of the best odds of success for gamblers in a casino, the house edge typically ranges from 0.5% to 2%. That’s probably about the same chance of turning a profit in the world of independent film."
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
Reposted by Anthony Kaufman
Trump Assures Struggling Nation He Has Plenty Of Money
December 18, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Trump Assures Struggling Nation He Has Plenty Of Money
According to the latest job report, the U.S. Black unemployment rate is 8.3% (compared with 4.6% across all demos), the highest jobless rates since the pandemic.
December 16, 2025 at 7:51 PM
According to the latest job report, the U.S. Black unemployment rate is 8.3% (compared with 4.6% across all demos), the highest jobless rates since the pandemic.
Reposted by Anthony Kaufman
Black unemployment soared to 8.3% last month, the highest level since the pandemic four years ago.
"What the hell do you have to lose?" — Donald Trump
data.bls.gov/timeseries/L...
"What the hell do you have to lose?" — Donald Trump
data.bls.gov/timeseries/L...
December 16, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Black unemployment soared to 8.3% last month, the highest level since the pandemic four years ago.
"What the hell do you have to lose?" — Donald Trump
data.bls.gov/timeseries/L...
"What the hell do you have to lose?" — Donald Trump
data.bls.gov/timeseries/L...
The results of Trump's White Supremacist policies in data...
December 16, 2025 at 4:17 PM
The results of Trump's White Supremacist policies in data...
"Unfair, undemocratic, and a bit crass—and like congressional gerrymandering, it seems like a race to the bottom."
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
The Awards-Media-Industrial Complex is a Racket, Especially for Docs and International Films
Just walk away.
open.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 11:04 PM
"Unfair, undemocratic, and a bit crass—and like congressional gerrymandering, it seems like a race to the bottom."
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyk...
December 15, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Anthony Kaufman
Fellow critics and programmers: keep this story top of mind when you go to Sundance this year, especially when covering the U.S. dramatic and documentary competitions.
Trump’s DEI Attacks Are Creating Real-Time Destruction for Filmmakers of Color
As Trump attacks diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs, the damage is already being done for independent filmmakers.
www.indiewire.com
December 10, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Fellow critics and programmers: keep this story top of mind when you go to Sundance this year, especially when covering the U.S. dramatic and documentary competitions.
Reposted by Anthony Kaufman
. @antkaufman.bsky.social speaks the truth...
"We have an entire industry whose demands simply can’t be fulfilled by Sundance, no matter what movies it premieres, bcuz the entire film ecosystem itself is in such a challenging place right now."
Read on: anthonykaufman.substack.com/p/sundance-i...
"We have an entire industry whose demands simply can’t be fulfilled by Sundance, no matter what movies it premieres, bcuz the entire film ecosystem itself is in such a challenging place right now."
Read on: anthonykaufman.substack.com/p/sundance-i...
Sundance Isn't the Problem, We Are
For decades, Sundance has supposedly lost its relevance, but the problems are much larger; plus a new chart!
anthonykaufman.substack.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:44 PM
. @antkaufman.bsky.social speaks the truth...
"We have an entire industry whose demands simply can’t be fulfilled by Sundance, no matter what movies it premieres, bcuz the entire film ecosystem itself is in such a challenging place right now."
Read on: anthonykaufman.substack.com/p/sundance-i...
"We have an entire industry whose demands simply can’t be fulfilled by Sundance, no matter what movies it premieres, bcuz the entire film ecosystem itself is in such a challenging place right now."
Read on: anthonykaufman.substack.com/p/sundance-i...
Still waiting for the video leak of the murders of fishermen off the coast of Venezuela. Remember the "Collateral Murder" video from Iraq....
/ #wikileaks reveals video of collateral murder
Collateral Murder - Wikileaks - Iraq
Wikileaks has obtained and decrypted this previously unreleased video footage from a US Apache helicopter in 2007. It shows Reuters journalist Namir Noor-Eldeen, driver Saeed Chmagh, and several others as the Apache shoots and kills them in a public square in Eastern Baghdad. They are apparently assumed to be insurgents. After the initial shooting, an unarmed group of adults and children in a minivan arrives on the scene and attempts to transport the wounded. They are fired upon as well. The official statement on this incident initially listed all adults as insurgents and claimed the US military did not know how the deaths ocurred. Wikileaks released this video with transcripts and a package of supporting documents on April 5th 2010 on http://collateralmurder.com
youtu.be
December 2, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Still waiting for the video leak of the murders of fishermen off the coast of Venezuela. Remember the "Collateral Murder" video from Iraq....