Award Winning Filmmaker Arthur Goldberg’s bravura documentary shines a cinematic klieg light on the strategies, game plans/master plans of extreme right wing Republicans & extreme right wing news media who have been exploiting America’s racial disharmony in order for them to get more power & profit as well as undermine American democracy. It has a kinetic visceral kick that cannot be denied. {The documentary premiered in Chicago at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema May 21, 2025.
It hits On Demand June 3.
Film director Andrew Goldberg, according to news sources, made WHITE WITH FEAR to expose how White Americans’ racial anxieties had been cultivated and exploited for decades by extremist Powers That Be for decades. The plan for a film started in the aftermath of the gruesome slow death torture-murder of George Floyd which was taped on a cellphone by teenager Darnella Frazier who shared it on social media for the world to see.
Goldberg, according to news sources, believed a shift was taking place in the national conversation about race. The filmmaker noted that many white Americans were beginning to discuss race in new ways – prompting him to investigate the origins of America’s racial divisions, concluding that the divisions were deliberately created and manipulated, that leading him to realize that there was archival “smoking gun” footage revealing that politicians and other operatives were often quite overt in their strategies to manipulate and exploit racial sentiments.
The “smoking gun footage” makes up a lot of the content but not all; there are numerous interviews that also support the narrative. Goldberg says the evolution of a “white fear industrial complex,” started with former Republican President Richard Nixon’s “law and order” rhetoric in 1968 and continued evolving, adding contemporary tactics employed by right wing extremist figures like Steve Bannon.
Steven Bannon
The film illustrates how racially charged language has been used without explicit references to race, effectively helping to mobilize white voters by portraying them as victims of societal changes. Goldberg’s wants his documentary is to contribute to the education of America on how racial narratives have been manipulated and exploited to serve political agendas, leading to fostering informed civic decision-making.
He believes that by presenting these facts and realities, audience viewers can better understand the mechanisms behind racial polarization in the United States. WHAT WITH FEAR it cinematic premiere in Chicago on May 21, 2025. June 3 is its digital premiere.
About the Filmmakers
Andrew Goldberg (Director, Producer, Writer): Has directed 14 prime-time documentary specials for PBS/public television, and both long and short-form segments for outlets like CBS News Sunday Morning, ABC News, Live From Lincoln Center, and National Public Radio. His work has appeared on major networks on every continent, and has been supported by more than 250 foundations, corporations, and major donors around the world.
Andrew Goldberg. Photo by Ilya S. Savenok
Diana Robinson (Producer, Editor): Started her journalism career covering multiple presidential campaigns in Pennsylvania, the swing state to end all swing states, and had a front-row seat to the rise of the Tea Party, the backlash to Obama, and the post-industrial economic depression that drove voters away from moderation and towards Trumpism. Her work has been supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Ford Foundation, and many others. This is her third feature film.
Director Diana Robinson. Photo by Fan Kong
Eric Ward (Co-Producer): Executive Vice President of Race Forward, is a notable civil rights leader and philanthropist rooted in America’s punk rock scene. Ward is a sought-after project collaborator because of his innovative approaches to combating white nationalism, antisemitism and advancing racial justice. The only American recipient of the Civil Courage Prize, Ward’s work bridges grassroots activism and strategic leadership to advance inclusive democracy and social change. Eric is a Senior Fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center and serves on the boards of The Proteus Fund, The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, and Auburn Theological Seminary. Eric is a founder of States At The Center (STAC); CultureGuard; and Momentum Magazine’s Wide River Project.