Possible Selves
World Premiere
“Possible Selves” follows two California teenagers in foster care through their tumultuous high school years. It is the first major documentary to focus on the lived experience of foster kids themselves rather than on the foster care system.
Possible Selves follows two brave teenagers in foster care through their tumultuous high school years.The film intimately shares Alex and Mia’s journeys as they strive to attain a goal that only 3% of adults who grow up in foster care reach: graduating from college.
Part of the reason that the stories of foster youth are so often overlooked is that filming with foster youth requires permission from a judge. The film team was granted this extraordinary access by the Los Angeles County Children’s Court and partnered with First Star, a nonprofit that helps foster youth prepare for college.
Keep watching after the film for a recorded conversation with Alex, filmmaker Shaun Kadlec and Zama Neff, from Human Rights Watch
We do not want the cost of entry to these films to be a barrier for participation in these events. If the price of buying a ticket to this film would prevent you from participating, please email the following address (filmticket@hrw.org) + we will send you a free ticket code. We have set aside a set # of tickets per film on a first come first-served basis. Once the free tickets are no longer available, the code will no longer work. For anyone that purchases a ticket, we appreciate your support. Your ticket purchase enables us to make tickets free for those who might otherwise be unable to watch. This also allows the festival to support the filmmakers for sharing their work in our festival to support the arts organizations bringing this work to you and for the festival to cover the cost of hosting the films online.
Director
Shaun KadlecProducer
Jamie WolfProducer
Shaun KadlecExecutive Producer
Bill ResnickEditor
Grace ZahrahCinematographer
Pablo BryantConsulting Editor
Doug BlushComposer
Theo PopovLanguage
English
Subtitles
English
Country
United States
Bonus Content
POSSIBLE SELVES Film talk with Shaun Kadlec, Alex Ballantyne and Zama Neff, Human Rights Watch
48mHear from the director, Shaun Kadlec, film participant Alexander Ballantyne and Zama Neff, Executive Director, Children’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch as they speak about the ways the audience can get involved to support foster youth across the country.
To support organizations doing this work, check out our community partners, First Star , California Youth Connection, USC School of Social Work, John Burton Advocates for Youth, , the Alliance for Children’s Rights and National Foster Youth Institute