Sunscreen Film Festival 2009

Larry, a 93 year-old widower confined to a Nursing Home, remembers a time when he had more spring in his step. Based on real audio recordings from 2002, animator Kristen Palana uses individually painted digital images to imagine and recreate her grandfather's first attempts to woo his beloved Roz. Set in both 1943 and 2007, 'Larry and Roz' is a three and a half minute glimpse into one couple's six decade relationship. The story of how her grandparents met and ultimately got married is one that was told often to Kristen as she was growing up in Swansea, Massachusetts. In 2002, not long before her grandmother passed away, she captured their voices retelling this story one last time on video. Kristen felt that animation was the perfect vehicle to allow her to imagine and witness their first encounters, tag along as an invisible chaperon on their first date, and ultimately bring them back to life, if only for at least one more dance together.Kristen started working on 'Larry and Roz' in the summer of 2006 after a cross continental move to Italy which forced her and her husband to live apart for over a year. During this time, Kristen became more empathetic towards couples separated by distance or death and their longing for an eventual reunion.