Thom Powers is the documentary programmer of the Toronto International Film Festival where he has presented premieres by veteran directors such as Werner Herzog, Jonathan Demme, David Guggenheim and Kevin Rafferty; as well as the first feature length works of Adria Petty, Kristopher Belman and Jeffrey Levy-Hinte.
In TIFF's Mavericks conversation series, Powers presented works-in-progress clips of Sicko (2007), Religulous (2008), and The People Speak (2009), a year ahead of each film's release.
For most of the year, Powers lives in New York City where he is the founder and artistic director of the Stranger Than Fiction documentary series at the IFC Center. At STF, he has interviewed dozens of filmmakers including Barbara Kopple, Albert Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker, Ken Loach, and Nick Broomfield.
He is the co-chair of the Cinema Eye Honors, started in 2008.
Since 2000, he has taught a class on documentary development at New York University's School of Continuing Professional Studies. He is writing a history of American documentary in the 1960s for Faber & Faber. He has also lectured at the Chicago Humanities Festival, John F. Kennedy library, the Academy of Motion Pictures' "Monday Nights with Oscars" series, and other universities. He has written for the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Filmmaker and Real Screen magazine.
His most recent documentaries are LOVING & CHEATING (Cinemax), about monogamy and infidelity; and GUNS & MOTHERS (PBS), about women on both sides of the gun control debate.
He has directed several short profiles of artists including the musician Shane MacGowan for "After Effects" (Sundance Channel); the cartoonist Joe Sacco for EGG: THE ARTS SHOW (PBS); the poet James Fenton for "Bookvideos" (Barnes & Noble); and experimental filmmakers for SHORTS FROM THE UNDERGROUND (Sundance Channel).
Powers and Meema Spadola produced and directed the hour-long documentary PRIVATE DICKS: MEN EXPOSED (HBO). The show surveys how men feel about their bodies from childhood to old age. “They let it all hang out to achieve something close to wisdom” (Entertainment Weekly). Their previous documentary BREASTS premiered on HBO's Cinemax channel in 1997 and became the network's highest-rated documentary. It has been broadcast in over a dozen countries.
Prior to working in film, Powers was an editor for Fantagraphics Books. He founded The Woodward Review, a monthly newspaper in his hometown, Detroit, Michigan. He now lives with his wife Raphaela Neihausen in Manhattan.
In TIFF's Mavericks conversation series, Powers presented works-in-progress clips of Sicko (2007), Religulous (2008), and The People Speak (2009), a year ahead of each film's release.
For most of the year, Powers lives in New York City where he is the founder and artistic director of the Stranger Than Fiction documentary series at the IFC Center. At STF, he has interviewed dozens of filmmakers including Barbara Kopple, Albert Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker, Ken Loach, and Nick Broomfield.
He is the co-chair of the Cinema Eye Honors, started in 2008.
Since 2000, he has taught a class on documentary development at New York University's School of Continuing Professional Studies. He is writing a history of American documentary in the 1960s for Faber & Faber. He has also lectured at the Chicago Humanities Festival, John F. Kennedy library, the Academy of Motion Pictures' "Monday Nights with Oscars" series, and other universities. He has written for the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Filmmaker and Real Screen magazine.
His most recent documentaries are LOVING & CHEATING (Cinemax), about monogamy and infidelity; and GUNS & MOTHERS (PBS), about women on both sides of the gun control debate.
He has directed several short profiles of artists including the musician Shane MacGowan for "After Effects" (Sundance Channel); the cartoonist Joe Sacco for EGG: THE ARTS SHOW (PBS); the poet James Fenton for "Bookvideos" (Barnes & Noble); and experimental filmmakers for SHORTS FROM THE UNDERGROUND (Sundance Channel).
Powers and Meema Spadola produced and directed the hour-long documentary PRIVATE DICKS: MEN EXPOSED (HBO). The show surveys how men feel about their bodies from childhood to old age. “They let it all hang out to achieve something close to wisdom” (Entertainment Weekly). Their previous documentary BREASTS premiered on HBO's Cinemax channel in 1997 and became the network's highest-rated documentary. It has been broadcast in over a dozen countries.
Prior to working in film, Powers was an editor for Fantagraphics Books. He founded The Woodward Review, a monthly newspaper in his hometown, Detroit, Michigan. He now lives with his wife Raphaela Neihausen in Manhattan.