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Office Hours:
Tuesday
1:30-3:00
& by appointment
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Degrees, Specializations & Interests:
B.A., Lawrence University; M.F.A., Northwestern University; Certificate in Film, Stanford University
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Deb Ellis is an award-winning filmmaker and educator. Ellis spent 14 years in Chicago working in the independent film community before coming to Middlebury. She continues her active participation in the independent community in Vermont, serving on the board of the Vermont International Film Festival and working as an independent producer. Ellis' most recent documentary, Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train, was short-listed as one of twelve films from which the 2005 Academy Award nominiess were chosen. The film enjoyed a theatrical release in late 2004, and is currently available on DVD. Earlier work includes Skin Deep, an examination of the development, testing, promotion, and use of the sub-dermal contraceptive, Norplant; The FBI's War on Black America, an examination of the lives and deaths of targets of COINTELPRO, an FBI program instituted in the 1960's with a mandate to "prevent the rise of a Black Messiah"; Unbidden Voices, about the immigrant experience of an Indian woman working in Chicago, and Doris Eddy, an intimate portrait of an older Vermont woman who lived alone on her farm with 50 horses. Ellis is currently developing new projects.
As an independent producer, Ellis works with clients including individual artists, education and arts organizations, and local non-profit organizations. Her work tends toward issues of social justice. Ellis also maintains a strong interest in emerging technologies and is particularly interested in how media is used to create community and political strength.