High Life (2005)

Half art film and half teen comedy, HIGH LIFE is a slice of life with a punk sensibility. An improvisational and character driven film developed during three months of rehearsal, HIGH LIFE takes place in real time, unfolding in front of 3 handheld cameras. Sy, an artist in his late twenties, lives in a Brooklyn loft that doubles as his art studio. He is having trouble making new work, and has even more trouble with the idea of showing any of it. His ambitious girlfriend, Melissa, has set up space in a group show for him, hoping to help his career and, more importantly, make him into the man she wants him to be. Sy is easily distracted by his 20 year old brother Satchel, who freely barges into the loft at any given time with his pack of rowdy friends to hang out. The tightly knit group has unwittingly begun questioning their relationships with each other, with sexuality, and with the world around them. An ordinary day goes awry, and each character walks away with a different understanding of themselves and the people they care about. HIGH LIFE examines marginalized stories that are easily forgotten but crucial in the development of personal history, while capturing the emotional underbelly of coming of age, and the pains of accepting adult responsibility.