The Challenge of Documenting White Nationalism
Editor’s Note: White Noise is available to rent now. Find more information here.
Today marks the U.S. release of White Noise, The Atlantic’s first feature documentary. The result of a multiyear reporting effort by the director Daniel Lombroso, White Noise explores the rise of the racist right in the United States. The film is an up-close look at a fractured but still-influential movement, and a study of how extremist views have infiltrated mainstream political discourse. I spoke with Daniel and Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg, the film’s executive producer, about the process of making the documentary. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Jeffrey Goldberg: White Noise is about the rise of far-right nationalism in the United States. Why did you start following the story?
I started covering the alt-right in 2016. I saw age-old hatreds—racism and anti-Semitism—bubbling a room full of people breaking out into Nazi salutes. Then when Charlottesville happened, nine months later, we knew it had to be a feature film.
