Rory Kennedy

Co-founder/president of Moxie Firecracker Films, Inc., Rory Kennedy is one of the nation's most prolific independent documentary filmmakers. Her impressive body of work tackles some of our most pressing social concerns--poverty, domestic abuse, drug addiction, human rights, AIDS and mental illness--and has garnered numerous awards and been featured on HBO, A&E, MTV, Lifetime, The Oxygen Network, Court TV, TLC and PBS.

Through her films, Kennedy illuminates issues via the stories of everyday people. Her 2007 EMMY award winning documentary, "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib," examines the abuses of U.S. soldiers at Iraqi prisons in 2003 and explores what the events reveal about American society, government and military operations. It premiered to critical acclaim at the '07 Sundance Film Festival before being broadcast on HBO.

Other Kennedy-directed projects include: "The Homestead Strike," part of the History Channel's "Ten Days That Unexpectedly Changed America" series; "Street Fight" (Academy Award nomination for "Best Documentary"), tracing the controversial 2002 Newark, N.J., mayoral race between Sharpe James and Cory Booker; "American Hollow" (Emmy nomination for "Non-Fiction Primetime"), illustrating the plight of an Appalachian family caught between century-old tradition and the modern world; "A Boy's Life" ("Best Documentary" at the Woodstock Film Festival), a dramatic portrait of the troubling forces shaping the life of a young child from impoverished Mississippi; and "Pandemic: Facing AIDS," recording the triumph as well as the heartbreak of five people afflicted with the disease. Other films include: "Epidemic Africa," "Fire in Our House," "Juvies," "The Changing Face of Beauty," "Travelers," "Different Moms," "Healthy Start," "The Nazi Officer's Wife," "Sixteen" and "Girlhood."

Eloquent at the podium, Kennedy was a surrogate speaker for President Clinton's 1992 run for office, and has served as a campaign speaker for "Women of Substance Education Outreach" and "Fire in Our House Outreach." She offers passionate views on topics ranging from human rights, to the creative process, to women and entrepreneurship.

In 1998, Rory Kennedy's Moxie Films merged with Liz Garbus' Firecracker Films to form Moxie Firecracker Films, Inc. Their 2007 release, "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib," documents the 2003 Iraqi prison scandal and the policy decisions that contributed to the abuse.

Prior to Moxie Firecracker, Kennedy was the executive director of MayDay Media --non-profit production/distribution division of Video/Action Fund--where she produced social-issue projects, including "Fire in Our House," winner of the CINE Golden Eagle (top prize at the U.S. International Film and Video Festival) and the Silver Apple (National Education Media Network).

In addition to her impressive film career, Kennedy is a committed social activist and human-rights advocate, and has sat on the board for numerous non- profit organizations, including: the Legal Action Center, the Project Return Foundation and the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation Associate Trustees Program. She was a member of the 1999 Presidential Mission on AIDS in Africa, and developed the Teacher Transfer Program between the U.S. and Namibia after her work at the Dobra Resettlement Camp. She also has been a member of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Human Rights delegations in South Africa, South Korea, Japan, El Salvador and Poland.

Kennedy is a graduate of Brown University, with a Bachelor of Arts in Women's Studies.