Global

STORYTELLER

Born and raised in Paris, Clara Bellar is a versatile artist who speaks French, English, Portuguese, Spanish & German. It’s always a joy for her to tackle original projects and embark on new adventures with equally passionate storytellers from different cultures and backgrounds, as an actor, singer, director, author & children’s rights advocate.

FILM

and

ACTOR

TELEVISION

As a film actor, some of Bellar’s most striking roles are the nanny robot in Steven Spielberg's "A.I., Artificial Intelligence" and her starring role as a camp survivor in Paul Schrader's "Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist", opposite Stellan Skarsgard. Alternating between large and smaller productions, Bellar just shot a participation in Coline Pagoda’s upcoming guerrilla project “Les Enfants Lachance” in Paris.

Bellar's film career took off when she met French New Wave director Eric Rohmer after he saw her in a Paris stage production of "Sleeping Beauty". Rohmer cast her as the lead in a film Bellar co- wrote with him, "Rendez-vous in Paris". Bellar's performance in the film led to starring roles in a number of independent films, including: "Kill the Poor" with David Krumholtz for producer John Malkovich, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival; the Franco-Italian film "Oranges Ameres"; British film "Romance and Rejection"; "This Space Between Us", with Jeremy Sisto and Garry Marshall; the French film "The Pharmacist", opposite Vincent Perez and Guillaume Depardieu. Bellar co-starred in "Sleepy Time Gal" opposite Jacqueline Bisset and Seymour Cassel, which premiered at Sundance.

On TV, Bellar starred in TNT's "David" as Tamar, King David’s daughter, opposite an international cast that included Jonathan Pryce and Leonard Nimoy. She performed as a Vietnam war photographer in NBC's critically acclaimed drama "American Dreams".

Theatrical

THESPIAN

Trained by world renowned acting teacher Larry Moss and encouraged by him to always go back to the theater, Bellar started an experimental theater company in Los Angeles in 2001: Ipanema Theater Troupe. She played the lead as the prostitute and her male cousin in Bertolt Brecht's "The Good Soul of Szechwan", a production she also produced & translated from German. The production earned Bellar rave reviews and was a Critic's Choice in the Los Angeles Times. She produced & starred in the critically- acclaimed stage production of "A Flea in her Ear", which was named Pick of the Week by LA Weekly, a Critic's Pick in Backstage West, and one of the Ten Best Productions of the Year by The Los Angeles Daily News. For this production, Bellar received the 2001 Ovation Award for Best Translation. For full theatre credits, see her acting page.

critically acclaimed

DIRECTOR

After studying film directing at New York Film Academy, Bellar wrote, produced & directed the 16mm short “Watermelon Man”. The film was featured in several North American festivals.

“Being and Becoming”, Bellar’s 99 minute film on the Self-Directed, Natural Learning movement, was shot in France, Germany, the UK, and the US. It’s been screened in over 30 countries, with theatrical releases in 6 countries, has been programmed for 4 years at Cinéma Saint-André des Arts, Paris. The book “Being & Becoming, Trusting Children's Natural Learning”, with 200 pages of Q&A with various education specialists (Peter Gray, Pat Farenga, Isabelle Fillliozat, Catherine Gueguen) was released on the 3rd anniversary in theaters.

celebrated

SINGER

Bellar’s debut album, “My Brazilian Heart”, was produced & arranged by multiple Grammy winner Dori Caymmi, and features guest appearances by Milton Nascimento and João Bosco. Bellar’s second album, “My French Heart”, is a personal selection of Chanson Française, produced & arranged again by Dori Caymmi, with appearances by music legends Ivan Lins and Chico Buarque, who sings his own song “Nuit des Masques” in French for the first time in the duo with Bellar.

CHILDREN'S

ADVOCATE

Passionate about children’s rights, Bellar has talked to thousands of parents and educators in the context of Q&As and to the press in numerous countries. Her film Being and Becoming is about giving back to the youth, starting from birth, the right to make choices for themselves and for their own lives, about trusting and respecting who they are, their rhythms and interests. Children’s rights remains the civil rights battle of the 21st century, as violences against employees and women have been made illegal in the 20th century, but violence against children (both physical and emotional, including "Ordinary Disciplinary Violence") is still legal and banalized as “normal” in many countries even in the western world, including in the USA. Bellar believes that one step, one child at a time, we can stop this violence and give the next generation the consideration we owe them.

For resources on Self-Directed Learning and allowing children to make decisions for themselves, visit the "Alliance for Self-Directed Education".

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