Clara Haizlett is a documentary filmmaker from Bethany, West Virginia. Clara has directed, shot and produced several short documentary films for organizations like Smithsonian Folklife, PBS American Portrait and the National WIC Association. Clara was an associate producer and assistant cameraperson on King Coal, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. She is an editor and video reporter at West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she covers stories about folklife in Appalachia. A 2024-25 Fulbright Scholar, Clara is currently living in Amman, Jordan where she is working on a cross-cultural documentary film on aging and end-of-life.

Clara graduated from West Virginia University in 2019 with a double major in International Relations and World Languages. She is professionally proficient in Arabic, Spanish and English. She was an artist-in-residence at United Plant Savers in 2022 and University of Utah’s Taft-Nicholson Environmental Humanities Center in 2021. Clara gravitates toward stories that explore folklife, cross-cultural dialogue and the natural world.