filmmaker bios

WITNESS, Executive Producer

WITNESS uses the power of video to open the eyes of the world to human rights abuses. By partnering with local organizations around the globe, WITNESS empowers human rights defenders to use video as a tool to shine a light on those most affected by human rights violations, and to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools of justice. Since its founding in 1992, WITNESS has partnered with groups in more than 60 countries, bringing often unseen images, untold stories and seldom heard voices to the attention of key decision makers, the media, and the general public — prompting grassroots activism, political engagement, and lasting change.

Gillian Caldwell, Executive Director, WITNESS

In addition to being the Executive Director of WITNESS, Gillian Caldwell is a filmmaker and attorney with experience in the areas of human and civil rights, intellectual property, contracts, and family law. Gillian was formerly Co-Director of the Global Survival Network, where she coordinated an undercover investigation into the trafficking of women for forced prostitution from Russia. She produced and directed Bought & Sold, based on the investigation, garnering widespread media coverage. Gillian is a recipient of the 2000 Rockefeller Foundation Next Generation Leadership Award, was named one of 40 Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs by the Schwab Foundation, a 2003 Tech Laureate by the Tech Museum, and was named a Special Partner by Ashoka: Innovators for the Public.

Elle Baker Center for Human Rights, Co-Producer

TheElla Baker Center for Human Rights (EBC) has a three-part mission: 1. to document, expose and challenge human rights abuses in the United States criminal justice system; 2. to build power in communities most harmed by government-sanctioned violence; and 3. to develop and advocate for proactive, community-based solutions to systemic "criminal injustice." EBC uses a wide variety of tactics to accomplish its mission, including grassroots organizing, direct-action mobilizing, media advocacy, public education, cultural activism, policy reform and legal services.

Books Not Bars, a program of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is fighting to redirect California's public resources away from punishment for young people and towards opportunity for them.

Lenore Anderson, Director of Books Not Bars

Lenore Anderson is the Director of Books Not Bars, the statewide organization fighting to transform California's juvenile justice system. Lenore is an attorney trained at NYU School of Law, where she was a Root-Tilden Public Interest Scholar and received the prestigious Soros Justice Postgraduate Fellowship upon graduation. In collaboration with WITNESS, she co-produced System Failure, a viscerally powerful documentary on the brutality of the CYA. She is a long-time activist, leader of numerous grassroots organizing projects and creator of Families for Books Not Bars, the statewide network of parents with children in California’s juvenile justice system. Lenore is known throughout California and the nation as a fearless voice for youth and a savvy juvenile justice advocate.