Film

The quotidian dramas of various New York artists hover and collide in a digital haze in rising art star James N. Kienitz Wilkins’ experimental documentary. In this kaleidoscopic portrait, a screenwriter, an actor, an urban shaman, and the director himself contend with everyday annoyances like broken appliances, FedEx dealings, and a sick parrot as they struggle to fulfill their creative tasks. Amid densely layered sounds and images—with radio broadcasts from WNYC and Hot 97 drifting in and out—Common Carrier takes a heady look at the work of being an artist.