GOOD TALK WITH SHAUN KADLEC

Shaun Kadlec began his documentary filmmaking practice during a Fulbright fellowship in Sri Lanka where he studied peace and reconciliation through the arts. He spent many years making short-form documentaries and commercials around the world. This led to directing his feature-length documentary debut, BORN THIS WAY, a verité portrait of the LGBTQ+ community in Cameroon. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and received many honors, including the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at Outfest.

Shaun’s newest documentary, POSSIBLE SELVES (about teenagers living in the foster care system), launches nationally on PBS in 2024. Shaun has received artist residencies at Yaddo and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. A gay, first-generation college graduate, Shaun grew up between small towns in Alabama and Central California and now lives in Los Angeles.

Expertise
Making my documentaries has given me the opportunity to do deep research and to spend large amounts of time with people directly involved in both the child welfare system and global LGBTQ+ populations. With these communities, I am both insider and outsider. I am a gay man, but I have never been to prison because of my sexuality. I experienced abuse, familial addiction and generational poverty as a child, but I was never placed in foster care.

I hope audiences will gain a deeper understanding of the child welfare system and/or the challenges facing global LGBTQ+ communities–as well as the long-lasting impacts of trauma. In addition, I hope they gain insights into how we can collaborate with all kinds of people to tell our individual and collective stories.