Possible Selves

Shaun Kadlec has made a memorable documentary about an aspect of American life that is most often unseen or ignored. The detailed realism of this study of foster care never loses its poetry or its emotional impact. The filming brings the viewer into the lives of the children, the foster parents, and those who work in foster care so intimately. We learn much about human character, both the good and the bad, as well as the blending of good and bad. This is an important film for both those who know and don't know about foster care in America. The director makes a point without ever becoming polemical.

Possible Selves is a heartfelt (and sometimes heart wrenching) look into the foster care system in Los Angeles. We see the private struggles of people we walk by every day but don't think about. The film provides insight and empathy to those who society is on the verge of forgetting about. One can't come away from this film without a new understanding for the foster care system in all its capacities - the young people, the families, the social workers, and the system itself. Filmmaker Shaun Kadlec pours his time and soul into exposing the inner workings of the system in a way I had never thought about before. Highly recommended.