FEATURED WORK

CANS Can’t Stand
Director/Producer

The Stage Is Ours
Director/Editor

ABOUT

I’m a documentary filmmaker and journalist. Much of my work focuses on gender and sexuality, history, and law.

My most recent film, CANS Can’t Stand (published by The New Yorker), follows a group of Black trans women in New Orleans who are fighting to repeal Louisiana’s unjust Crime Against Nature by Solicitation (CANS) law. Nominated for a 2024 GLAAD Media Award, CANS Can’t Stand premiered at the Cannes Film Festival Emerging Filmmaker Showcase and has been recognized at film festivals like Outfest (Audience Award), NewFest (Audience Award), Provincetown (Special Jury Prize), Hot Springs, and the New Orleans Film Festival.

My work has been featured in the New York Times, Vimeo Staff Picks, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

In August 2022, I co-founded the Advocacy Video Project, an initiative that uses short documentaries to help New Yorkers win fairer criminal-legal outcomes. I’m also a fellow at the Yale Investigative Reporting Lab.

I was born and raised in Florida and graduated from Yale with a BA in American Studies.

CONTACT

mattsnadel@gmail.com