The Invisible War

Kirby Dick is an Academy and Emmy Award-nominated documentary director. His most recent film, The Invisible War, a groundbreaking investigation into the epidemic of rape within the US armed forces, the institutions that perpetuate and cover up its existence, and its profound personal and social consequences. The film won the Audience Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. His previous film, Outrage, which was nominated for an Emmy and released by Magnolia Pictures, is a searing indictment of the hypocrisy of powerful closeted politicians and the political and media institutions that protect them. In 2006 he directed This Film is Not Yet Rated, released by IFC Films. A breakthrough expose of the highly secretive MPAA film ratings system, the film compelled the MPAA to make long overdue changes in the way it rates films. Dick’s prior film, Twist of Faith, is the story of a man confronting the trauma of his past sexual abuse by a Catholic priest. Produced for HBO, it received a 2004 Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature. Dick’s other films include, Derrida, a complex portrait of the world-renowned French philosopher Jacques Derrida, which won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco Film Festival; and Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the Grand Prize at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

Amy Ziering is an award-winning and Emmy-nominated documentary producer and director. Her recent film, The Invisible War, a groundbreaking investigation into the epidemic of rape in the U.S. military, won the Audience Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Her previous film, Outrage, for which she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, was distributed by Magnolia Pictures and had its television premiere on HBO. Ziering also produced The Memory Thief, which was a New York Times critics’ pick and won several festival awards. Prior to this Ziering co-directed and produced Derrida, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, won the Golden Gate award at the San Francisco Film Festival, was released theatrically by Zeitgeist Films and features an original score by Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Ziering’s first film, Richard Cohen's critically acclaimed Taylor’s Campaign, was a documentary about Ron Taylor, a homeless person who ran for a seat on the Santa Monica City Council. Ziering graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Amherst College and has two Masters degrees from Yale University. A student of Jacques Derrida, Ziering taught at Yale during her graduate studies there. She is an active mentor to several Youths-In-Transition (ex-foster children who have "aged out" of the system). She initiated and runs the ongoing "Films 4 Change" activist film series which features first-run documentaries followed by panel discussions with notable field experts.