Tom
2023 · 15m · Canada
Directed by Chase White
Genres: biography, documentary
Tones: contemplative, tender
Tom Derry is the connection between wild fish and the activists striving to protect them.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A 15-minute portrait of someone named Tom could be the most predictable thing ever made, but I'm curious what White found in the margins of this person's life that made it worth 15 minutes of my time—if it's actually subversive, the restraint might be the subversion.
White's approach to biographical documentary feels rooted in a lineage of intimate portraiture, where the formal constraint of the short duration becomes a compositional choice rather than a limitation.
What matters here is whether White found the one moment—a gesture, a silence, a single line of dialogue—that unlocks who Tom actually is; that's the decision that either makes this tender or forgettable.
Reviews
Few people have done more for the conservation of wild fish than this man. The goal of the film is simple: inspire more people to be like Tom.