Matthew Barr has always had a deep interest in filmmaking: he made his first 16-mm film with a Bell & Howell wind-up camera when he was 13.  He holds a BA from San Francisco State College and an MFA from UCLA in film production. He has worked as a still photographer, been a freelance screenwriter, worked on an organic farm,  driven a rig cross country, and spent five seasons with a traveling carnival show.
 
As a screenwriter,  he co-wrote the scripts for two movies produced in Hollywood,  Deadly Blessing (1981) and The Forgotten (1989), as well as other scripts that were optioned but never saw the light of day.  While teaching at the University of Miami In 1990, he moved into documentary production with Crimes of Hate, a film produced in conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League as a training tool for police departments in recognizing and combating hate crimes. He has taught film production at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro since 1994. Together with his wife, Cornelia Wright Barr, he founded the Unheard Voices Project in 2006.
 
Filmography
 
Deadly Blessing.  Feature film directed by Wes Craven, starring Sharon Stone, Ernest Borgnine, co-screenwriter, associate producer credits (1981).
 
The Forgotten. Television movie starring Keith Carradine, Stacy Keach, Steve Raislback. Co-screenwriter credit (1989).
 
Crimes of Hate. Documentary on crimes against Jews, homosexuals and African-Americans. Director and producer  (1990).
 
Carnival Train.  feature-length documentary about carnival life. Director and Producer (1999).
 
Wild Caught: The Life and Struggles of an American Fishing Town. Feature-length documentary about commercial fishermen. Producer and director (2006).

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