Katarina Poljak (they/them) is a celebrated independent filmmaker and performance artist whose award-winning work has graced prestigious venues such as The Kimmel Center for Performing Arts and Vox Populi Gallery, as well as international film festivals including ARFF Paris, Croatian Fashion Film, Indie Short, and Rethink Dance. Their works, often incorporating the body and contemporary dance performances, critique social traditions and technology. Poljak's performance-based films transport audiences to fantastical realms, blending retro-futurism, sculptural set-design, and intricate hand-made costumery. Influenced by collaborations with experimental film and performance artist Kathy Rose, Poljak is committed to creating work that navigates the intersection of past and future mass culture, challenging the unspoken boundaries shaping our social lives. A recipient of a BFA from the University of the Arts, where they studied both Dance and Film, Poljak earned the prestigious Shannon D. Moore major film award for their thesis film in 2019. Intrigued by humanity's trajectory into "posthumanism" and its framing by the idealized human body, their work evokes a sense of surrealist suspense, explores society's fascination with the spectacle of gore, and taps into the visceral nervous system of the grotesque. The incorporation of bizarre, macabre, and unsettling imagery and concepts in Poljak's work often elicits profound and visceral responses from viewers. Poljak's latest film, INCREDIBLE MACHINE GLASSBODY, garnered acclaim with selections and wins at various international film festivals in 2020. Other works include BODY: UNKNOWN, MOUNTAIN OF ONE, NOT A TOY, BLACKLIST, and TEST 087.  Poljak works as a freelance production sound mixer, documentary editor, and choreographer. They are currently a performing artist in residence at Mascher Space Cooperative and an installation fellow at MOA Bank. In these positions, they persist in curating interdisciplinary performance and video works.