Laura Varela is a documentary filmmaker whose work is shaped by her roots growing up on the US/ Mexico border in El Paso, TX. Her work crosses cultural, linguistic and physical borders through the use of film and contemporary art installations. She now resides in San Antonio, TX where she works as a filmmaker and artist. She produces for VoxFem Network, 

a multi-platform, multi-program, multi-venue network and center for innovative, international women artists & changemakers. 

Varela’s documentary, As Long as I Remember: American Veteranos was broadcast on PBS from 2010 to 2016. She is currently producing and directing the documentary, raul salinas: The Poetry of Liberation for PBS. She is a recipient of awards from The National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, Humanities Texas, Latino Public Broadcasting’s Public Media Content Fund, ITVS Diversity Development Fund and Best Director Award at the San Antonio Film Fest. Varela lectures and screens her work internationally at cultural centers and Universities; most recently teaching documentary film at the University of Texas-San Antonio. She is an alumnus of the CPB/PBS Producers Academy, the NALAC Leadership Institute, the NALIP Producers Academy, Creative Capital Professional Development Workshop. Artist Residencies include Swarthmore College, Art for Change, NYC, and the Hochschule Niederrhein and Faust Academy in Germany.

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