kaya (ᜃᜌ)

KAYA is my directorial debut, and a very personal story. A story, I believe, many third-culture kids can relate to. It’s the tale of never fully belonging, but not that of being a foreigner or immigrant either. It’s the feeling of being at home in a culture that is your home, and yet doesn’t let you belong. Through subtle, small moments repeated over years and decades - comments, assumptions, jokes - I grew up feeling like something was different about me, even though I felt just the same as everyone else.
I wanted to make this film to share this experience, because it seemed never to suffice to explain it. The many times I would have to justify, or even argue for, my experience showed me that people who grew up in one place struggle to grasp this reality And yet, it’s a global phenomenon that is here to stay. At some point, we will have to come to understand that we can no longer - and never should have - judged a book by its cover. That identities are fluid, and not a fixed box of traits that every one who shared that identity needs to fit.
My experience is no minority experience anymore. Even more so, I believe that more people than ever feel like they don’t belong. KAYA translates the “capability or ability” to do something, like “kaya mo” means you can do it. With this film, I want to inspire people that there is a way forward, that even if you face rejection and people don’t accept you, you can change how they see the world, even if you have to be the first example of what that change means. That is how I live my life and that is something I would like to share with my work.