Sheldon Chau

Born in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles, Sheldon developed a passion for movies as a child when his dad brought home Jackie Chan films via a local laserdisc rental store. As a teenager, he discovered that movies went beyond entertainment when both his drama teacher and artist uncle recommended films from the Criterion Collection. After college, Sheldon made a short documentary in which he interviewed his father and learned of his parents’ harrowing journey out of Vietnam as boat people; this cemented his commitment to storytelling through filmmaking. Sheldon holds a BA from UC Irvine in Film Studies and an MFA from NYU Tisch in directing and cinematography. Sheldon’s work has screened at top festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Venice, and Berlin. His recent credits as cinematographer include Demba - which premiered at this year’s Berlinale; Nafi’s Father - Senegal’s official entry to the 2021 Oscars - and Enmity Djinn - an episode of Netflix’s African Folktales Reimagin...