Bellagio Residency: March 2023
Projects: “Voices” and “Janis Ian & The Art of Song”
Varda Bar-Kar is an award-winning director and “artivist” filmmaker focused on telling meaningful stories exploring the breadth and diversity of the human condition. She came to Bellagio in March 2023 to develop an independent feature project based on the true story of screenwriter Susan Klos’s struggle to come to terms with her teenage daughter’s newly diagnosed schizophrenia. This authentic account of the effects of mental illness told with honesty and humor aims to demystify and humanize a malady that society does not seem to want to talk about. Varda has made her mark on the filmmaking world through her feature music documentaries including, Big Voice (Netflix, 2015) and Fandango at the Wall (HBO/MAX, 2023). Varda is currently in post-production on her third feature music documentary “Janis Ian & The Art of Song” (working title).