Sarna Lapine

05.29.09http://www.intiman.org/2009Season/magical/default.aspx

Sarna Lapine is currently the resident director for the national tour of South Pacific. Most recently, she directed Joan Didion's play, The Year of Magical Thinking at Intiman Theatre in Seattle. She has worked as assistant director on the Broadway productions of South Pacific, Awake and Sing! and The Light in the Piazza, all directed by Bartlett Sher. She has directed readings of new works and original works at such venues as New York Theatre Workshop, the Warning: Not for Broadway Festival presented by Dixon Place and the Philipstown Depot Theatre. Her first film, the short documentary My Saraab, about the Seattle-based Iraqi sculptor Sabah Al-Dhaher, received the 2005 Northwest Film Forum's Best Short Film Award sponsored by Altoids and was an official selection at several film festivals including the Big Sky Documentary Festival, the Beverly Hills Shorts Festival, the Arab and Iranian Film Festival and Northwest Folklife . A graduate of the Film Division of Columbia University’s School of the Arts, where she completed her M.F.A., she was honored with the IFP/Marcie Bloom Fellowship as well as Columbia’s casting and producing fellowships. While at Columbia , she wrote, directed and/or produced several short films in genres ranging from drama and comedy to horror. She has also worked in arts education with youth in (and out of) the juvenile justice system, as a dramaturg and consultant on stage and film projects, and assisted director Nicole Holofcener on her upcoming feature film Please Give.

Prior to working in theater and film Sarna spent a decade climbing mountains and rock faces all over the world. She worked as a professional climbing guide and experiential educator for organizations such as Outward Bound and Passages Northwest. She also worked in arts education with youth in (and out of) the juvenile justice system. Sarna's passion for storytelling has been shaped by her adventures and her belief that the arts can influence social change.