Portrait of Kaye
Portrait of Kaye • 58m
Directed by Ben Reed • 2021 • United Kingdom
Starring Kaye Mannion
Restricted by her agoraphobia, Kaye has spent most of her life within the four walls of her parents’ house. Finding relief from her fears in the faces and lives of old film stars, she pastes their images alongside those of her deceased family on the walls of her house, creating a kaleidoscopic collage that mixes personal history with Hollywood fantasy. Told via freewheeling monologues, PORTRAIT OF KAYE is a bittersweet portrait of a woman forming her own unique identity while navigating the conflicting influences of her mother’s bawdy humor and her father’s anxieties. Now seventy-four and recently widowed, Kaye’s infatuation with a younger neighbor gives her an opportunity to explore personal and sexual freedoms that have long been hidden away.