About Varda Bar-Kar
I’m an “artivist” filmmaker with a global perspective. By the age of ten, I had lived on three continents, which gave me a deep appreciation for diverse cultures and empathy for those marginalized by society. My first brush with cinema came at the age of five. While on holiday in Israel, I peeked out a hotel window and became mesmerized by a drive-in screening of John le Carré’s A Man and A Woman. We relocated to the UK. In London, my father’s stories about my great-uncle’s adventures on a James Bond production sparked my interest in filmmaking. We moved to San Francisco, where my eighth-grade teacher lent me a Super 8 camera that I used to make my first film. As a teenager living in New York City, I immersed myself in the city’s culture—museums, jazz clubs, and arthouse theaters—developing an enduring passion for artistry.
I began working as a script supervisor alongside masters like Jim Jarmusch, Wayne Wang, and Carroll Ballard then transitioned into directing shorts, including Window, starring Academy Award-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr., which won festival awards and screened at the Cannes Film Festival. My first feature documentary fulfilled the dying wish of a veteran named Shane, whom I met while volunteering in hospice care at the West Los Angeles VA hospital. Since then, my films have explored the stories of those deemed outsiders—celebrating their contributions and revealing life’s possibilities in the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity.
My documentary, Big Voice, won multiple awards, premiered on Netflix, and was broadcast on PBS, earning a Bronze Telly Award. My HBO/MAX documentary, Fandango at the Wall, executive produced by Carlos Santana and Quincy Jones, follows Maestro Arturo O’Farrill to Veracruz, Mexico, where he jams with the masters of son jarocho, then joins them for a fandango on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border—transforming it from an object that divides into one that unites. The film inspired the Grammy-winning album Fandango at the Wall in New York. I’ve also directed episodes for FOX’s 9-1-1 and served as a consulting producer on Netflix’s Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me.
I was commissioned to write and direct a documentary about Cheech Marin’s influence on the rise of Chicano Art for PBS SoCal’s series Artbound. The Cheech, which aired as the premiere episode launching the season, was just nominated for an LA Emmy Award.
My music documentary, Janis Ian: Breaking Silence, delves into the creative genius and defiant resilience of Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Janis Ian. The film features Lily Tomlin, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Jean Smart, and Laurie Metcalf among others. It was one of the top ten viewed film festivals at DOC NYC, a “Best of Fest” film at the Palm Springs Int’l Film Festival, and a winner of multiple audience awards. Greenwich Entertainment released Breaking Silence theatrically and online in the United States. It will have its national broadcast on the PBS Series American Masters.
My work has received grants from the Ford Foundation, Jewish Story Partners, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, and the Miranda Family Foundation. I’m a beneficiary of the Ryan Murphy Half Initiative, the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Residency, and the Jewish Film Institute Residency, as well as, a member of the Directors Guild of America, the International Documentary Association, and Film Fatale.
When not making films, I love creating art, listening to music, watching movies, swimming, biking, hiking, and exploring the world with my husband, Patrick Scott Bennett, and our daughters, Paloma and Raven.