Riffe was born in
Dallas, Texas, and attended El Centro College in Dallas, where he studied journalism. In 1968, he published
The Good Life magazine and soon became politically involved in the civil rights and anti-war movements in Texas. He organized demonstrations as part of the national Vietnam Moratorium Committee campaign, and was hired as the Texas organizer for Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam. His activism inspired his interest in filmmaking. Riffe's best known film,
Ishi, the Last Yahi was released theatrically and aired on the PBS series
The American Experience. The film went on to win "Best Documentary" awards at eight film festivals and was nominated for a national Emmy award in 1994. Riffe served as series and executive producer on
California and the American Dream, an independently produced national series that aired on
PBS. Riffe's other credits include interactive producer and video director of the first Africana Interactive Studies Center at Merritt College; interactive producer/writer for four interactive exhibits for the Autry Museum of American History; interactive producer and writer for
Public Broadcasting In Public Places. Riffe and his team designed, programmed, built and installed four interactive media kiosks with 160 minutes of content from the
California and the American Dream series. Riffe wrote, produced and directed
TV of Tomorrow, an interactive prototype demonstrating the possible ways interactive content might appear on television in the future. In 1990, Riffe produced 86 minutes of video for three interactive History Information Stations, at the Oakland Museum of California. Riffe also consults on film and video distribution. ==Filmography==