Kayla in 1A
Black Filmmakers
•
22-Jun-2018
A portrait of a roommate named Kayla, a teacher who watches French movies and drinks three cups of tea at a time. Directed by Travis Wood, “Kayla in 1A” is a film about two strangers living together and establishing no connection. “We’ve lived together for six months. I don’t know anything about her.” Presented with 1st person narrative captions, it's a charming resurrection of old-fashioned techniques — Kayla is a papier-mâché puppet, controlled from strings above, inhabiting a full-scale replica of a Brooklyn apartment filled with miniature hand-made sets and props, a laptop, a stove, a sink filled with dirty dishes. The attention to detail and playfulness is endearing and subtly funny, but there’s also melancholy at its heart in its depiction of the borders between people and the fleeting nature of their contact. The gentle, observatory tone is similar to Wood’s previous effort, “just getting by is ok”, but he expands in new directions here with a richly realized scenario and vivid character-building. KA. Directed by Travis Wood.
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