I was born in Geneva, Switzerland, from parents who each had been refugees at different points in their lives. As such I have always been fascinated by history and how it has shaped our present, particularly the social history of everyday lives and their hidden stories stored within objects and archives.
From a young age I was passionate about all the arts (writing, painting, dancing, music), drawn by an interest in how each medium could convey a narrative. I went on to pursue a liberal arts degree at Swarthmore College where I majored in Studio Art. I complemented my studies by taking courses at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) and training in dance with Jeanne Ruddy (Martha Graham Company), The Merce Cunningham Studio, Lisa Kraus (Trisha Brown) and the faculty at Swarthmore College and Bryn Mawr College. I also studied Harmony & Counterpoint and the history of Western music. In 2006 I moved to London to study at the Royal Drawing School on “The Drawing Year”. In 2018 I graduated from the National Film and Television School (NFTS), the home of Wallace & Gromit, Peppa Pig and Terrance Davies, with an MA in Directing Animation.
My first jobs included working in the archive of the illustrator Quentin Blake and gaining work experience with the registrars at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). I have gone on to work as an Archive Producer and Archive Researcher for history documentaries, including “Coco Chanel: Unbuttoned” (BBC Arena), “Reframed: Marilyn Monroe” (CNN Originals / BBC 2), “Lockerbie” (Sky) and “Endurance” (National Geographic).
Alongside this I have produced my own short films embedding archives within cinematic narrative landscapes to repurpose their function from historical records into spaces for reflection and commemoration. My award-winning film Triptych screened at BAFTA and Oscar qualifying festivals internationally. In 2022 I was one of two directors selected for a project co-led by writer-director Jonathan Glazer to create a short film for the Wiener Holocaust Library. In 2025 I released my short film “Ghosts” starring Fiona Walker and supported by Kodak Film Lab (London).
As part of my ongoing professional development I have attended workshops with Anna Scher Theatre, Hazel Marshall and the Royal Opera House. I was a participant of the Zurich Film Festival Masterclass and SWISS FILMS’ first feature development workshop “Talent Day”. I was also invited to take part in a research study at Tate Modern that examined historical and contemporary assumptions about teaching practices in the life room.
Since 2023 I have been researching and writing about a British Victorian-era author and cultural icon who is now largely forgotten. I hope to expand this research into a book.
https://www.instagram.com/katmo_katlom/
CV:
E: katialom@gmail.com
T: (+44) 077 941 66 959