- Born
- Thom Powers is the documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival; and artistic director of America's largest documentary festival DOC NYC. He hosts the podcasts Pure Nonfiction for the TIFF podcast network and Documentary of the Week for New York's public radio station WNYC. He programs for the digital platform Sundance Now; the Miami Film Festival; and the Stranger Than Fiction series at New York's IFC Center. He is a co-founder of the Cinema Eye Honors; the Garrett Scott Documentary Grant; and the Montclair Film Festival. He teaches documentary producing at the School of Visual Arts; and previously taught for 12 years at New York University's SCPS. Before working as a festival programmer, Powers spent a decade directing documentaries for HBO and PBS; and had a previous career in publishing at Fantagraphics Books. He grew up in the Detroit suburbs and now lives with his wife Raphaela Neihausen and their son Bez in Montclair, New Jersey.- IMDb mini biography by: thom@stfdocs.com
- SpousesRaphaela Neihausen(September 28, 2008 - present)Leela Jacinto(June 4, 1999 - 2005) (divorced)
- Met his producer wife Raphaela at the Berlin film festival where she was presenting her documentary about a beauty contest in a gulag.
- Great films don't stay hidden for very long. Someone sees them and starts telling other people about them, and inevitably one of those people will tell me.
- It's hard to imagine anyone doing my job isn't going to select the new Errol Morris film. But then there's another half of films where it isn't. It's a total matter of taste...There's usually a hook. There's something you can hang your hat on rather than, 'This is an intensely beautifully made film about people you've never heard of.' [Choosing films] like bailing water from a sinking ship.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content