LIGHT ATTACHING TO A GIRL
Narrative Feature, 2023
Suffocated by an overbearing father and two older sisters who soak up any attention that comes their way, Clare is desperate to escape. She plans a trip to Iceland by herself where she can experience nature, and make her own decisions for the first time in her life. Light Attaching to a Girl poetically drifts between the interior and exterior life of an adolescent, as she reckons with haunting memories of her childhood even as she takes her first steps into adulthood.
Shot documentary style, using non-actors with improv and very minimal scripting, Light Attaching to a Girl pushes the boundaries of filmmaking in a poetic and reflective look at adolescence and freedom.
Awards
Jury Prize - AVIFF Cannes
Best Female Director, Best Drama Feature Film, Best Young Actress - Five Continents International Film Festival
Best First Time Director - Mykonos International Film Festival
Best Cinematography - Art Film Awards
Audience Choice Award - Melbourne Lift-Off Film Festival
Nominations: Best Picture - Orlando Film Festival, Best Screenplay - Maverick Movie Awards
“…tender, intimate and revealing …a gorgeous exploration of grief and the transition into adulthood” (audience member at Golden State Film Festival)
MEET THE PRODUCERS
LAINA BARAKAT, WRITER, DIRECTOR & PRODUCER
Laina Barakat is an independent film writer/director/producer, and founder of Wayward Ark Productions. Her film career began with Either/Or Films on their well received feature, The Sensation of Sight (starring David Strathairn, Ian Somerhalder, Jane Adams and Ann Cusack), and where she produced films for nearly a decade. Her film Only Daughter premiered at Cinequest Film Festival and picked up awards across the country including the Audience Choice Award at New York No Limits, and NH Film of the Year at New Hampshire Film Festival. While working with Kingston Road Pictures, Laina Associate and Line-Produced the documentary More Art Upstairs which premiered at Hot Docs in 2017 and won Best Documentary at Tribeca Film Festival. In 2016 she started Wayward Ark Productions, and since then has written, directed, and produced seven award winning short films.
JENNIFER LATHAM, PRODUCER
Jennifer Latham is a narrative and documentary producer. She started her film career in her home state of Vermont, the beginning of two decades of work in films that go beneath the surface in revealing, honest, and often provocative ways. Her documentary credits include George Butler’s award-winning Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition, Two Towns of Jasper, the critically acclaimed documentary for which she received a Columbia-Dupont award as Co-Producer, Michael Moore’s Academy Award nominated Sicko and his following film Capitalism: A Love Story. She won a primetime Emmy award for her producing work on YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, a multi-hour series on climate change, and has produced films for Showtime, National Geographic, HBO, PBS, and Starz. Jennifer’s narrative credits include films by directors Daniel Minahan, Tod Williams,and Vermont filmmakers Jay Craven and Nora Jacobson.
KARLINA LYONS, PRODUCER/LINE PRODUCER
Karlina has 20 years of experience in domestic and international media production, with a career focus on educational programming for children and families. After eight years in the International Production Department of Sesame Workshop, Karlina returned to her native New England where she became a consulting producer for the Cambodian Educational Media Initiative (CEMI), a partnership between WGBH and the global NGO World Education. Her work with CEMI included producing Cambodian versions of “Sesame Street” and “Peep and the Big Wide World.” In recent years, Karlina has turned her focus to documentary and feature film production. Credits include Angkor’s Children (2014) and the award-winning films Only Daughter (2013) and The Heroin Effect (2017). Karlina received a Boston/New England Emmy for her work on a Granite State Children's Alliance PSA in 2014.