The Coolest Girl in School
A short documentary by Tulasi Das
A short film about perception, illness, and the liminal space between reality and fantasy.
This is a story of illness, creativity, and the strange path of the coolest girl in Tulasi’s school.
Five years ago, Noli disappeared from society, confined to her bed by chronic fatigue syndrome. Surrealist self-portraits became her portal into the world.
Inhabiting the liminal space between fantasy and reality, this magical realist documentary explores the failures of perception, the friendship Noli and Tulasi shared as teenage girls, and the forces that continue to isolate them.
Director’s statement
Noli had a pink streak in her hair, safety pins in her jeans, and the admiration of boys and girls alike. I thought she was going to rule the world. Instead, she ended up in bed.
What we perceive as reality is often so far removed from the truth. Whether we’re teenage girls certain that our friend is more self-assured than us or adults finding companionship in our mother’s collection of antiques, reality is never quite what we think it is.
Now, emerging at the other side of illness, she takes stock of her life. In this magical realist documentary, the strange objects in her world come to life to see her off as Noli sets off into a new world.
