Lisa Mills

Lisa Mills is an Associate Professor of Film at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. She holds a doctoral degree in political communication from the University of Florida, and teaches documentary production, documentary history, screenwriting, and story theory. Before entering academia in 1999, Dr. Mills was a broadcast journalist for 25 years. Her documentary films have won national and international awards and screened in film festivals all over the world. "The Committee," a short historical documentary about Florida's purge of gay and lesbian teachers and students from public universities in the 1960s, won a Suncoast Emmy Award. It continues to air on local public television stations through national distribution with American Public Television (3-year contract renewed May 2019 to extend through 2022) In April of 2018 a short documentary she co-Directed with Susan Gallagher, "Beneath the Crown," screened at the Ethnografilm Festival in Paris and won a Silver Telly award. In 2016, a short documentary she directed with students, Filthy Dreamers, won the national College Emmy Award from the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences. In 2015 her experimental documentary "Hymns of Three Cities" screened in Chicago with a number of Kartemquin films at the (In)Justice for All Film Festival, where it received a special recognition award. Dr. Mills released a feature length historical documentary in late Fall 2018 entitled "Marching Forward," centering on the civil rights era in Central Florida. Since its release, "Marching Forward" has screened in the following film festivals and garnered several awards: Spring 2019 Competitive Exhibitions (64% acceptance rate among festivals entered, selection may involve committees, juries, or peer review) . January 2019. Southern States Indie FanFilmFest, Biloxi, MS. Regional. Award: Atman Diversity in Film . February 2019. Ogeechee International History Film Festival, Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA. International. Award: Best University Student Documentary . April 2019. Charlotte Black Film Festival, Charlotte, NC. National. . April 2019. Universe Multicultural Film Festival, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. International. . April 2019. Las Vegas Black International Film Festival, Las Vegas, NV. International. . April 2019. Equality International Film Festival, Berkeley, CA. International. . April 2019. Tiburon International Film Festival, Tiburon, CA. International. Semi-Finalist. . April 2019. Florida Film Festival, Maitland, CA. International. . April 2019. Broadcast Educators Association Festival of Media Arts, Las Vegas, NV. International. Award: Best of Show, Student Long Form Documentary