Biography

Laina Barakat is an Independent Film Writer, Director and Producer. Her film career began with Either/Or Films during Post Production and Distributions of The Sensation of Sight. During her eight years working with E/O, she produced Only Daughter, a feature film that premiered at Cinequest Film Festival and picked up various awards across the country including Audience Choice Award at New York No Limits, and NH Film of the Year at New Hampshire Film Festival.

Working with Kingston Road Pictures in late 2015, Barakat Line-Produced a documentary film in Grand Rapids Michigan called More Art Upstairs, which premiered at Hot Docs in 2017 and won the Audience Choice Award at Tribeca Film Festival.

Barakat formed Wayward Ark Productions in 2016 to take creative control of her projects, and empower young filmmakers in the Monadnock Region. She has written, directed and produced seven award winning short films.

Her first feature film as a director, Light Attaching to a Girl, premiered at RiverRun Film Festival, followed by an award-garnering festival tour on three continents. It is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Laina is also currently co-directing feature Documentary, Break a Lash, which explores Rural Drag.

She is also seeking funding for her next two narrative feature films:

Mouth of the Bull, which was selected as a Stowe Story Producer's Lab finalist and is set in Panama, and Through the Woods Lightly, which is set to shoot in NH.

Laina co-founded and was Executive Director for the Monadnock International Film Festival during its first three years, is the New Hampshire Chair of Women in Film & Video New England, and is a Board of Director for Keene Pride. She is a recipient of a Ewing Arts Award for Filmmaking, as well as a Trendsetter Award. She currently lives in Marlborough, New Hampshire and while balancing her film pursuits, she is the General Manager of 60 year old nonprofit, Monadnock Music, and adjunct Film Professor at Keene State College.
- IMDb mini biography by: Laina Barakat

Born in NY and raised in NJ, Barakat began her film career just out of college with Either/Or Films. She worked with Kingston Road Pictures and then formed her own company, Wayward Ark Productions in 2016 to take creative control of her projects.

Her first feature film as a director, Light Attaching to a Girl, premiered at RiverRun Film Festival, followed by an award-garnering festival tour on three continents. It is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Laina co-founded and was Executive Director for the Monadnock International Film Festival during its first three years, is the New Hampshire Chair of Women in Film & Video New England, and is a Board of Director for Keene Pride. She is a recipient of a Ewing Arts Award for Filmmaking, as well as a Trendsetter Award. She currently lives in Marlborough, New Hampshire and while balancing her film pursuits, she is the General Manager of 59 year old organization, Monadnock Music, and adjunct Film Professor at Keene State College.

Being a female, MENA, filmmaker of immigrant parents is part of her lens, and her company Wayward Ark Productions strives to widen the lens and create a space for underrepresented voices. Barakat is dedicated to telling honest stories through unorthodox methods of filmmaking. With a focus on untold stories, Wayward Ark Productions offers opportunities to empower marginalized filmmakers both behind the camera and on screen, sharing narratives that are often overlooked or under-appreciated by an entertainment driven industry.
- IMDb mini biography by: Laina Barakat