Letters from Home is a contemplative short film that explores themes of memory, distance, and the evolving dynamics of family. Drawing inspiration from documentary-style works such as Naomi Kawase’s Katatsumori, the film uses a quiet, observational approach to capture the emotional landscape of a mother-daughter relationship through distance and the passing of time.

Told through the intimate format of a handwritten letter, the film follows a mother who writes to her daughter after a long period of separation. Her words are read aloud over a series of carefully composed, slow-paced visuals that evoke both warmth and melancholy. The absence of dialogue between characters emphasises the emotional distance at the heart of the story, while the voiceover acts as a bridge between the past and the present.

The filmmaker, Amy Kanematsu Griffiths, was inspired by her own family history, particularly her mother’s experience of moving from Japan to Canada in the 1990s. This personal connection informs the film’s emotional tone, and its focus on cultural displacement, maternal love, and the quiet resilience found in relationships affected by distance. Shot with a visual sensitivity that mirrors the softness of memory, the film leans into nostalgic textures to create an emotional atmosphere. With its gentle rhythm and quiet mood, Letters from Home invites viewers to sit with the stillness of longing and to consider how relationships endure, even in silence.