Joseph Hall Wilson (born February 8, 1964) is an American film director and producer, best known for documentaries and impact campaigns that explore oppression and empowerment among gender and sexual minority communities. He has received an Emmy, GLAAD Media and several film festival awards, and his work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, Ford Foundation, ITVS and Pacific Islanders in Communications. Life and career Wilson was born and raised in Oil City, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1986 and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the West African country of Mali from 1988 to 1990. Prior to filmmaking, he served as Director of the Human Rights program at the Public Welfare Foundation in Washington, D.C. Wilson's 2010 film Out in the Silence focused on the challenges of LGBT people in his small hometown of Oil City, Pennsylvania. It was motivated by the controversy that occurred when the local paper published the announcement of his wedding to partner and fellow filmmaker Dean Hamer. Out in the Silence was supported by the Sundance Institute, premiered at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, and received an Emmy Award for its PBS broadcast. It also won a Special Jury Prize for Bravery in Storytelling from the Nashville Film Festival and Alternative Spirit Award from the Rhode Island International Film Festival. Subsequently, Wilson led a multi-year national film impact campaign that took the film to small towns and rural communities in every country in Pennsylvania and many locations across the United States. The campaign was highlighted in reports by the Center for Social Media at American University and The Fledgling Fund. Wilson and Hamer's 2014 PBS films Kumu Hina and A Place in the Middle were filmed in Hawaii and focused on Polynesian cultural perspectives on gender diversity and inclusion. Kumu Hina was produced in association with Pacific Islanders in Communications and ITVS, won the Audience Award for its national PBS broadcast on Independent Lens, and received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary. It premiered as the closing night film at the Hawaii International Film Festival in the Hawaii Theater and won the Jury Award for Documentary at Frameline and a Special Jury award at the Pacific International Film Festival Tahiti. The accompanying educational short film A Place in the Middle premiered at the Berlin International and Toronto International Film Festivals. It was distributed to every school