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Miasarah Lai is an Emmy-winning cinematographer, experienced field producer, and emerging director with bases in New York and Chicago. With a background in documentary, often operating as a one-person band, she brings a nimble and collaborative approach to all her work. She has made work for the likes of VICE, The Atlantic, Snapchat, ABC News, Rolling Stone, People, Instyle, 60second Docs, Nike, Spruce, Bank of America, and many others. Miasarah has worked internationally in Vietnam, Honduras, Ghana, Myanmar, Mexico, China, Nicaragua, Romania, and around the United States. She is a member-owner of Meerkat Media, a cooperatively-owned and award-winning production company. Consequently, Miasarah can operate as a freelancer or she can scale up enlisting her full-service production team to accommodate any production size. She is able to work on all cameras and is well versed in the following: Canon C200, C300, C500 and Sony FX9, FS7, FX6, FX3.

With a background in organizing the former Community Manager of Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Miasarah demonstrates a deep commitment to equity and social responsibility in the filmmaking process with attention to representations of marginalized communities and hiring diverse crews. Miasarah is a Co-Founder of Ethnocine Collective, and a member of Asian American Documentary Network. With an MFA in Documentary Media from Northwestern University, she has facilitated and organized panels & workshops at CPH:DOX, Sundance Film Festival, SSFILM's Doc Stories, the International Documentary Association's Getting Reel, Cannes Docs, Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival, Haverford College, and other academic institutions.

Her independent work has screened at Big Sky Film Festival, American Documentary Film Festival, Athens Ethnofest, Chicago Palestine Film Festival, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and art museums. Select films she directed are Nobel Nok Dah (2015), and For My Art (2016). She has received grants and fellowships from the Academy of Arts and Sciences, Camden International Film Festival, Double Exposure Film Festival, The Propeller FundKartemquin Films, and other institutions. 

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