Kelly Candaele

Kelly Candaele is a politician, filmmaker, teacher, and writer. For the past fifteen years he has written extensively for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, The Nation and other national publications. While writing for the Los Angeles Times, he traveled to Ireland three times during President Bill Clinton’s attempts to push the Northern Ireland peace process forward. His journalistic work has focused primarily on the political developments in Los Angeles, history, athletics and culture. In addition to Northern Ireland he has worked as a journalist in Great Britain, Brazil, Sweden, Cuba, Spain, Vietnam and India. He has lectured at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Occidental College, and University of California, Irvine. He has been an Adjunct Associate Professor of Philosophy and Communications at California State University, Chico.

Early life

Attended Lompoc High School in Lompoc, California. His brother Casey Candaele is a former Major League Baseball player for the Houston Astros and Montreal Expos.

Film career

Kelly Candaele has produced and directed a number of documentary films.

A League of Their Own

His documentary film A League of Their Own, about his mother’s years as a professional baseball player in the 1940s, was awarded an Emmy as part of a public television series. He wrote the story for the Columbia Pictures feature film about the women’s league which starred Tom Hanks and Madonna. His mother Helen Callaghan was a left-handed center fielder who played five seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and won the batting title in 1945.

Olof Palme - A Life In Politics

He produced and wrote an award-winning documentary on the life of assassinated Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. The film is narrated by actor Paul Newman.

When Hope & History Rhymed

His 2011 documentary, When Hope & History Rhymed, (title from the poem by Seamus Heaney) explores the aftermath of the Northern Ireland peace agreement of 1998.

El Clasico

In 2010 he traveled to Spain to produce the documentary film El Clasico - More Than a Game, about the historic soccer (football) rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. The hour-long film looks at Spanish history and politics through this athletic contest.

Goal Kolkata

Goal Kolkata is a film that is currently in production, about two soccer teams in Calcutta (Kolkata), India.

Politics

He served on the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District for four terms, having been first elected in June 1997. He was reelected in 2001, 2005, and 2009.