CYNTHIA HILL - DIRECTOR/PRODUCER

Cynthia Hill crafts documentaries that take a complex approach to critical contemporary issues, creating story- driven and visually-rich films. Private Violence is Hill’s fourth feature documentary. The subjects of her work range from tobacco farming, to Latino migrant labor and Southern foodways, and challenge dominant narratives about the rural South. Hill allows unexpected stories to unfold, laying bare the assumptions behind the systems that drive people’s everyday lives. Each of Hill’s documentaries open up space for vigorous community engagement, with viewers from wide-ranging political and ideological beliefs. Producer/director credits include Tobacco Money Feeds My Family, The Guestworker, February One, and A Chef’s Life. Hill’s work has appeared nationally on PBS and the Sundance Channel and featured in festivals around the globe. She has lectured at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and is the co-founder of the Southern Documentary Fund, a nonprofit organization established to support place-based storytelling. Hill is from Pink Hill, NC and currently resides in Durham, NC.

REX MILLER - CINEMATOGRAPHER

Rex Miller is a visual storyteller with an extensive background as a photographer and filmmaker. He got his start as a photojournalist in NYC, shooting for Newsweek, New York Magazine, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin and Time. He completed All the Blues Gone, a 10-year documentary project on music and life in Mississippi that included a book, CD soundtrack, traveling exhibition, and educational foundation funded by the NEA. His feature doc, SOMAY KU: A Uganda Tennis Story, won Best Documentary at the Malibu Film Festival. Miller directed and shot the documentary Behind These Walls, which explores life at and around the tennis court at San Quentin Penitentiary. Recent DP work includes: The Loving Story, (HBO, 2012) for which director Nancy Buirski won both the Peabody and the Emmy for Best Historical Documentary, and A Chef’s Life, directed by Cynthia Hill, a 13-part documentary food series currently airing nationally on PBS.

TOM VICKERS - EDITOR

Tom Vickers has been working as an editor for over ten years. His work includes projects that have aired on the Discovery Channel and ESPN. His feature documentary work includes Ain’t In It For My Health: A Film About Levon Helm, which screened at the SXSW and Los Angeles Film Festivals and had a national theatrical distribution by Kino Lorber. He also edited the award-winning documentary feature February One, which aired on PBS’s Independent Lens and screened at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. He is currently editing the first season of A Chef’s Life, a 13-part documentary food series airing nationally on PBS.

KIT GRUELLE - SPECIAL ADVISOR & FILM SUBJECT

Kit Gruelle is a survivor of domestic violence and has worked as a battered women’s advocate and community educator for over 25 years. She educates advocates, criminal justice professionals, healthcare providers, faith leaders, educators and other allied professionals about domestic violence. She is dedicated to challenging the stereotypes and prevailing belief systems about violence against women and children and highlights the prevalence of out-of-date responses that do little to change the fundamental dynamics of domestic violence.