Originally from rural Pennsylvania, Lara was raised on a steady stream of television,
polka, processed food, and wooded warfare with her three sisters. Her work focuses on
small towns, dysfunctional families, and the kind of humor and relationships that are only
possible when everything else is screwed up. Her shorts and music videos have
screened at SXSW, Mill Valley, Portland International, DC Shorts, and online via Short of
the Week, Pitchfork, Spin, Rolling Stone, and NPR, among others. Her latest short film,
“American Gladiators” was the recipient of the prestigious James Bridges Development
grant and premiered at Palm Springs Shortfest in 2014. Lara earned her M.F.A. in
Directing (with honors!) from Columbia University and was named one of IFP’s 2015
Emerging Storytellers. She lives and works in Portland, Oregon and is the leader of the
Portland Chapter of Film Fatales, a Global Female Film Director’s Collective.
Karina