Leah Varjacques
Directing
Known For

As GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic soar in popularity for weight loss, this film follows three people on their own GLP-1 journeys and explores how decades of diet culture and society’s relentless pursuit of thinness paved the way for their rise.
Weight of the World

The analysis delves into systemic problems, controversial methodologies, and pressing demands for reform that have profoundly impacted the horse racing industry.
Broken Horses
When Ilse Cruz was a toddler, she and her mom immigrated from Mexico to Chicago in search of better opportunities. Now a passionate dancer and ambitious high school student, Ilse hopes to go to college and one day visit the family she left behind. However, her undocumented status pushes these dreams further out of reach. Halfway through her senior year, Ilse learns her DACA permit qualifies her for a special document that allows her to return to Mexico. Through a life-changing trip, Ilse reconnects with her family and Mexican roots – and her legal re-entry to the U.S. fast-tracks her application process for permanent residency. Six months after she graduates from high school, Ilse obtains her green card – mere weeks before Donald Trump takes office. While Ilse’s mother rejoices in these unexpected events for her daughter, her own fate grows ever more uncertain.
Ilse

As Jakarta sinks and sea levels rise, Indonesia is moving its capital to Borneo, on the traditional land of the indigenous Balik people. Abidin, a Balik elder, is documenting his forest’s soundscape with the help of scientists to preserve ancestral knowledge – before it’s too late.