Karly Stark is an experimental filmmaker, educator, and curator based in Oakland, California. They hold a BA in Film Studies from UC Berkeley (2012) and an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University (2016). Karly currently works as a Lecturer at SFSU, where they have taught numerous courses in Experimental Filmmaking, Writing on Cinema, Gender in Cinema, Art of Cinematography, and Queer & Trans Film Theory. They also work as a Preservation/Digitization Assistant at the Media Resources Center at UC Berkeley, where they created a film term glossary and clip library for the Berkeley Language Center and work to provide accessible film & media materials for educational use.

As a curator, Karly is passionate about showcasing the voices of local queer artists and the possibilities inherent in projecting in public space. Their curatorial positions have included Program Director/Curator at The Great Wall of Oakland (2014-2017) and Guest Curator at the Frameline San Francisco LGBT Film Festival (2016). In 2018, Karly completed a fellowship on Arte Útil under artist Tania Bruguera at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, where they researched the politics of public projection and created a prototype for a community-driven public projection space in Oakland.

Karly's creative work focuses on experimental modes of cinema, incorporating lyrical, essay, and diary film forms that explore human experience and memory through a queer lens. Karly's films have screened widely and internationally at such venues as the British Film Institute, McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, MIXNYC, San Francisco Cinematheque, SFMOMA, and the Pacific Film Archive. Their short works are currently distributed by Collectif Jeune Cinéma and Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Center.