Kaleb D’Aguilar is an award-winning writer and director based in both London and Jamaica. A storyteller at heart, Kaleb is passionate about exploring ‘the everyday’ in his work, delving deep into themes of familial bonds, migration, gender and sexuality. He is particularly interested in how these worlds intersect with the Black and Caribbean lived experience.
His short film No Entry screened at over 15 film festivals, winning several awards including Best Student Film at The Cornwall Film Festival (2022) and is now available on Soleil Space and American Airlines in-flight entertainment systems. The film explores the effects of the Windrush scandal and the British Government’s Hostile Environment Policy from the perspective of a mother as she attempts to preserve her relationship with her son and the safety of her home.
Kaleb is a Commonwealth Shorts: Caribbean Voices recipient (2021) and has a MA in Directing from Goldsmiths University of London as well as a BSc. in Anthropology from the University of the West Indies where he is also serving as an adjunct lecturer in the film department.
Website: Kaleb D’Aguilar
| Television (in development): | |
|---|---|
| A Smaller Song | Writer Pilot script for a queer Jamaican coming of age TV drama. |
| Short Film: | |
|---|---|
| Sonshine | Commissioned by The Commonwealth Foundation Writer, Director & Co-Producer A grieving mother tries to keep hold of her safe space when an unwelcome visitor arrives to take her son. Currently screening at film festivals: Winner – Best Direction, Best Performance & Best Local Film, Gatffest Film Festival (2025) |
| No Entry | Goldsmiths University Director In the midst of the Windrush Scandal, Valerie and her son’s relationship becomes strained as she is engulfed by the UK’s Hostile Immigration tactics. Grappling between losing her son and the country she calls home, she looks for hope where there is no entry. Winner – Best Student Film at Cornwall Film Festival (2022) Winner – Best Cinematography at Gatffest Film Festival (2022) Winner – Best Screenplay at Little Wing Film Festival (2022) |
| A Broken Appointment | Firewood Pictures Writer & Director A vignette. A Relationship. A Rise & Fall. |
| Other Screen Credits: | |
|---|---|
| Kingston To Brixton | New Kingston Media Director TV series pilot (in post) |
| Taut | Artist and Director Video Installation Exhibited in the National Gallery of Jamaica and the Migration Museum, London |
| Freewheeling | Goldsmiths University Director Directed 2 episodes of the anthology webseries – Stuck and Let Me Breathe Producer: Noor Kanoo |
| Theatre: | |
|---|---|
| How To Keep Warm In Winter | Omnibus Theatre Writer, Director & Producer Rehearsed reading |
| How To Keep Warm In Winter | Talawa Theatre Company Writer, Director & Producer Rehearsed reading |
| Watchtower | Tentastic Theatre Festival Writer & Director Part of a programme of short plays |
| Feathers & Voicenote Never Sent | Visual Sauce Director Part of a programme of short plays |
| Re:Ashored | Quilt Performing Arts Company Co-Writer & Assistant Director |
| Revolution | Quilt Performing Arts Company Co-Writer & Assistant Director |
| Other Experience: | |
|---|---|
| University of the West Indies Adjunct Lecturer Film Dept. – 2022 – Present |
| Awards & Nominations: | |
|---|---|
| 2025 Best Direction & Best Local Film, Gatffest Film Festival (Winner) – Sonshine | |
| 2022 Best Student Film At Cornwall Film Festival (Winner) – No Entry | |
| 2022 Best Cinematography At Gatffest Film Festival (Winner) – No Entry | |
| 2022 Best Screenplay At Little Wing Film Festival (Winner) – No Entry | |
| 2019 GATFFEST Pitching Competition 2019 (Winner) | |
| 2019 Michael Cooke National Award for Poetry (Recipient) | |
| 2025 Royal Court Writers’ Group | |
| 2023 Scholarship recipient for Rosemary’s House Writing Residency with Jake Brunger | |
| 2021 Mentor for Spotlight Shorts JA 2021 with UNICEF & JAFTA | |
| 2021 Selected Participant in the Commonwealth Foundation’s ‘Caribbean Voices Film Workshop’. | |
| 2017 Valedictorian for the Graduating Class at the University of the West Indies Mona Campus | |
| 2016 Jamaican Ambassador in the “Filmmakers Immersion” hosted by the Trinidad & Tobago’s Film Festival. | |
| 2014 Jamaican Ambassador for the Sustainable Theatre Workshop at the United Nations NYC |
| Education: | |
|---|---|
| MA Filmmaking: Directing Fiction – Goldsmiths University | |
| BSC Anthropology, Minor Literatures in English – University of the West Indies |