Katarina Poljak is a Philadelphia-based director, producer and interdisciplinary artist working across film, performance, and installation. Their work engages the entanglement of technology, consumer culture, and environmental collapse, positioning the body as a site of transformation, control, and resistance. Their films and performances have been presented at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, MOA Philly, and Vox Populi Gallery. They are currently directing and producing the short dance film Source Architecture. Their recent video installation CRASH SITE premiered in March 2026 and is on long-term view at MOA Philly.They co-directed and produced The Haunting of Pennhurst, their debut feature supported by the Ford Foundation, Perspective Fund, Catapult Film Fund, and Sundance Institute, which premieres at the Tribeca Festival in June 2026.
BTS of Source Architecture
August 2023
BTS of Source Architecture
December 2022
FILMS
Source Architecture – Director, Producer | In Progress
Untitled Pennhurst Film – Co-Director, Producer | June 2026
Incredible Machine Glassbody – Director, Editor | 2019
INSTALLATIONS / EXHIBITIONS / PERFORMANCES
CRASH SITE – Interactive Installation (AR / Sculpture / Dance/ Video) | Director, Sculptor
MOA Philly, Philadelphia, PA | March 2026
Test 087 – Dance /Sculptural Costume - Director
Icebox Project Space, Philadelphia, PA | 2024
Blacklisted – Dance / Video - Director, Performer
Icebox Project Space, Philadelphia, PA | 2023
Not a Toy – Performance Art / Video/ Sculpture - Director, Performer
Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia, PA | 2022
SCREENINGS & FESTIVALS
Tribeca Film Festival – New York, NY – 2026
Icebox Project Space – Philadelphia, PA – 2023
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts – Philadelphia, PA – 2018
AWARDS & SUPPORT
Catapult Momentum — Catapult Film Fund | Participant / Support, 2026
SFFILM Rainin Grant — SFFILM | Grant Recipient, 2024
Sundance Catalyst Forum | Participant / Fellow, 2025
Big Sky Documentary Pitch — Big Sky Documentary Film Festival | Pitch Participant, 2024
Perspective Fund | Supporter / Recipient, 2023
NAI Direct Access Fund — International Documentary Association | Grantee, 2023
Ford Foundation | Support, 2024
People’s Media Fund | Grant Recipient, 2023
Catapult Film Fund — Catapult Film Fund | Supporter / Recipient, 2022
The Scribe Independent Media Fund — Scribe Video Center | Grant Recipient, 2022
Muse of Madness — Come As Your Madness, Sculptural Fashion Show Winner | 1st Place Prize, 2022
RELATED PROFESSIONAL WORK
Adjunct Professor, Film Department — University of the Arts
2023–2024 | Course: Image and Performance
COMMISSIONS / PUBLIC ART PROJECTS
Feels Like Home – Short Film | Co-Director, Co-Editor
Johns Hopkins Ideas Lab / Berman Institute of Bioethics | 2025
EDUCATION
The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Bachelor of Fine Arts – Dance & Film, 2019
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Local Artists Helping Shape the Ministry of Awe Experience.”
South Philly Review, March 6, 2026.
“Multitude Films, FWD‑Doc and Untitled Pennhurst Film Launch Fellowship for Disabled Filmmakers”
Variety, December 18, 2025