Laura Udra is a Lithuanian up-and-coming film and video director/writer. Her debut short film “Black Black Night” premiered at the Camerimage film festival (Students Etude Panorama) and was nominated for Lithuanian National Film Awards ”Silver Crane 2023” in the Best Student Film of the Year category.
Laura had been traveling the world as a fashion model since she was fourteen. This became her first unofficial art school: “I used to observe fashion photographers or designers working for hours on each element, I was amazed by the immaculate precision which was needed to create an image”.
After finishing high school, Laura studied Art History and Criticism at Vytautas Magnus University (2008-2012), where she specialized in theatre history. She worked at the National Drama Theatre of Kaunas as a PR, as well as she was writing pieces as a freelance culture journalist for several years. During that time, she became interested in contemporary dance and circus. In 2022, Laura graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Film Directing at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.
Her interest in performing arts left a mark in her visual approach to storytelling as well – In her films, she seeks to create an expressive elevated atmosphere with a touch of magical realism.
*The painting in the picture is created by Lithuanian artist Jolanta Kyzikaitė