Clarinda Blais is a director, writer, filmmaker, and China Hand who originally hails from central New York. She was born and raised in the same town as four generations of her family, and was fortunate to venture out to pursue her undergraduate degree at Boston University as Harold C. Case Scholar. While at BU, Clarinda took up studies in moral philosophy and Mandarin Chinese. She lived in China and worked in foreign policy for several years before beginning her graduate studies in directing for film at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. She is also an alumna of the third class of Schwarzman Scholars at Tsinghua University where she focused her research on rural communities.
In her work as a filmmaker, Clarinda tends towards stories that grapple with the idea that people are fundamentally good. She is particularly interested in the American white working class, masculinity, and how humans reckon with ambition. Her first short film, Indulge Me, premiered at the HollyShorts film festival in Los Angeles, was shortlisted for a student BAFTA, and earned her the 2024 USC First Look faculty award for outstanding achievement in directing. Clarinda loves to write and direct dark-comedies and shoot documentaries on her iPhone.
Clarinda Blais 