Criminal offenders with lives marked by generations of violence, addiction, and poor social conditions attend the Peace Class in a Texas prison where they struggle to discover their humanity, improve their outlook on life and rebuild their lives from the inside out. Four years in the making, Inside Peace is a feature documentary that focuses on several compelling characters who were incarcerated at Dominguez State Jail in San Antonio, Texas. There, they embarked on a journey of change by enrolling in the Peace Class, one of the few self-improvement programs offered in prisons across the country that are not faith-based, but instead concentrates on the individual’s inner strength and self-worth.

Trinidad, David, Chase, and Jake grew up in neighborhoods with the same multi-layered deprivation that produces most of the offenders in the United States: Lack of education, poverty, joblessness, unstable family lives and exposure to the criminal element. All had come to identify with the hardened exteriors they developed as coping mechanisms and presented to the world — a brutal street fighter, Trinidad was feared inside and out of jail — David was a small-time drug dealer, who fended for himself on the streets as a teenager trying to get by — there never seemed to be a right time or a right place for Chase his whole life — born into a family of heroin addicts, Jake abused drugs from an early age. None of them was ever taught or realized he had the capacity to make positive choices in life.

Inside Peace provides a window into the hearts and minds of men doing hard time who choose to break the cycle of negativity. With a supporting cast of fellow inmates, prison officials, experts and family members, the film takes the viewer down these men’s difficult roads as they reintegrate with life on the outside relying on the personal peace, self-worth and dignity discovered at the Peace Class. If they can change the only belief system they’ve ever known and are successful in understanding their value as human beings, they just may have a chance of living better lives by making better choices. The path becomes most treacherous when released from jail and as they try to negotiate a world filled with conflict, rejection and hostility. Faced with these familiar roadblocks at every turn, they must avoid the temptation to return to their old ways—those that led to failure and imprisonment in the first place.

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR — CYNTHIA FITZPATRICK  |  Though Inside Peace is her directorial debut as a documentary producer and director, Cynthia has been in the film business for the last 25 years and began her career at HBO as a feature script reader. She then moved on to producing and editing trailers for HBO feature films. Her editorial work has been associated with hundreds of titles, including a comedy series starring and directed by Tracey Ullman. She edited many “Behind the Scenes” for HBO as well as series for network syndication including the “The Sopranos”, “Six Feet Under” and “Sex and the City“.

CO-PRODUCER/WRITER — ROSIE LEE  | She is a video producer in the non-profit sector and has worked on numerous documentary shorts for over 20 years. She is a published writer, content developer and editorial consultant. Rosie has been collaborating with Cynthia Fitzpatrick on “Inside Peace” since 2011.

STORY CONSULTANT — EVE GOLDBERG  |  She has worked as a writer, director, producer and editor in film and television for over 30 years.  Her credits include: “Panama Deception”, Academy Award for Best Feature Length Documentary – story consultant; “Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist”, Emmy Award nominated for Best Non-Fiction Special – writer/editor; “Cover-Up: Behind the Iran/Contra Affair”, Golden Hugo Award, Prix du Public, number of other awards – writer/editor.