Watch the recording of the Masterclass with Varda Bar-Kar in conversation with SDI Director, Noe Mendelle, about her latest documentary – Fandango at the Wall.
Award-winning director Varda Bar-Kar directs an array of productions, including feature projects, episodic television, short films, and cause-driven viral videos. Varda was born in England, to a South African mother and Romanian father and had lived on three different continents by the time she was ten years old. She is an “artivist” filmmaker focusing her lens on meaningful stories exploring the breadth and diversity of the human condition. She faces society’s challenges with an uplifting approach that speaks into possibility.
Varda’s feature documentary Big Voice chronicling a challenging year in the life of a determined high school choir director was picked up by Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV, Amazon Prime, and aired on PBS winning a Bronze Telly Award. The Heartland Film Festival, New Filmmakers LA, and the South Dakota Film Festival honored Big Voice with “Best Feature Documentary” awards. Varda’s newest feature music documentary Fandango at the Wall captures an unprecedented annual musical convergence on the border between The United States and Mexico inspired by a mystical 300-year-old musical tradition from Veracruz, Mexico called son jarocho. Fandango at the Wall was funded in part by the Ford Foundation & Miranda Family Foundation and Executive Produced by Quincy Jones, Andrew Young, and Carlos Santana. It was honored with an Audience Award for “Best Documentary Feature” and a “Special Jury Unifying Vision Award” at the San Diego Latino Film Festival then picked up by HBO where it was broadcast in the United States and now streams on HBO Max.
Varda is currently in development on a music documentary series inspired by Fandango, a new music documentary feature, and a scripted feature project. She is a member of the Director’s Guild of America, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles, IDA, and Film Fatales.
