Deb Ellis is a filmmaker. Her films explore issues of social justice. Her work has won awards and been screened at film festivals nationally and internationally. Ellis is currently a Professor in the Film & Television Studies Program at the University of Vermont. An overview of her creative work is at debellisprojects.com

Deb Ellis is a filmmaker whose documentary films explore issues of social justice. Her work has won awards and been screened at film festivals nationally and internationally. Today Ellis is a Professor in the Film and Television Studies Program and co-chair of the Reporting and Documentary Storytelling Minor at the University of Vermont.

Ellis received a BA in History from Lawrence University in Appleton, WI and an MFA in Radio/TV/Film from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She started her career teaching at Community TV Network in Chicago, a community training and production organization. She grew up professionally in the independent filmmaking community in Chicago. Her passion for encouraging less-heard voices has not diminished since then.

Her film Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train opened on over 100 screens across the country and was short listed for an Academy Award in 2005. More recently she completed Peace Has No Borders follows the stories of three Iraq War veterans who crossed the border to Canada to avoid another tour of duty. The film explores the consequences of acting in the name of peace by avoiding war. Today as we move out of Covid restrictions Ellis is excited to get back into production on films with a more personal voice. For an overview of her creative work: debellisprojects.com