• Home
  • About Us
  • Submit Article
  • Contact Us
Indie Shorts Mag
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Film Festival News
    • Short Film News
  • Reviews
    • Short Film
    • Documentary
    • Web Series
  • Hall of Fame
  • Short Film Festival – 2023Submissions Open
  • Tutorials
    • Pre-Production
    • Post-Production
  • Short Film TVLive
  • Submit Short Film
    • Submit Short Film for Review
    • Submit Web Series for Review
No Result
View All Result
Indie Shorts Mag
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Film Festival News
    • Short Film News
  • Reviews
    • Short Film
    • Documentary
    • Web Series
  • Hall of Fame
  • Short Film Festival – 2023Submissions Open
  • Tutorials
    • Pre-Production
    • Post-Production
  • Short Film TVLive
  • Submit Short Film
    • Submit Short Film for Review
    • Submit Web Series for Review
No Result
View All Result
Indie Shorts Mag
No Result
View All Result

A Letter From Home: In Search of Family, Saving and Purpose

Indie Shorts Mag Team by Indie Shorts Mag Team
09 Nov 2022
in Reviews
0
A Letter From Home - Documentary Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Spencer LeGros and Alexander Hinsch’s A Letter From Home delves into the life of trauma that war veterans return to, and a program whose modest efforts have the potential to make significant change. Mainly featuring the program founder Jason Graven, the documentary portrays the founding of Task Force 20 as the culmination of a series of events in Graven’s life.

Heavily stylised, the documentary uses reenactment, dramatisation, and fast cuts to create a varying flow in the pace. The film traces Jason’s childhood and journey into adulthood; a trailer park life of deprivation, loss, and a continual search for belonging. Shown through a mix of old photos and video, animation, graphics, reenactment and present day footage shot for the film, Jason copes with a double blank. The father he never knew left a sense of lack, while the daughter he has yet to see has become a reason to push forward. The Jason that the film encounters walks the audience through these using insight and introspection.

A Letter From Home - Documentary Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Two other veterans are also featured: Dave, a Vietnam vet, and Adam, of the same generation as Jason. As the three subjects weave in and out of the narrative, recounting their struggle with the aftereffects of war, both mental and physical. The establishment of Task Force 20 is explained through the lives of these vets: a program that provides free gym memberships to veterans. For Dave, it is a way to regain mobility. For Jason and Adam, the time they spend working out is time they do not spend alone with their thoughts. What the three and others who join Task Force 20 have in common is a desire to reclaim control of themselves and their lives.

A Letter From Home - Documentary Review - Indie Shorts Mag

The overarching goal of the narrative is to document Jason and it is to him that the film keeps returning. Lo-fi recordings of his voice are used for parts of the narration that are addressed to his daughter, highlighting the personal nature of his words. In this and other ways, he is psychologised in a manner that Dave and Adam are not. It is by intimately exploring Jason’s life that the film tries to sketch a portrait of what it means to live with trauma and loss that begins well before one’s existence in the world. 

Jason highlights the effect of these predetermined circumstances. What choices are available often peter out to deaths or dead ends. Sometimes, PTSD. By laying out this groundwork, the documentary establishes the place that Task Force 20 occupies in the lives of veterans: potentially, a lifesaver. 

Watch A Letter From Home Documentary Teaser

A Letter From Home: In Search of Family, Saving and Purpose
  • Direction
  • Cinematography
  • Screenplay
  • Editing
  • Music
3.5
Tags: DocumentaryDocumentary ReviewPrivateReview
Previous Post

The Mask in Our Hands: Showcasing Everything (that will Attract Viewers)

Next Post

European Short Pitch Announces Its Development Project, Mentorship & More For Its 16th Edition

Indie Shorts Mag Team

Indie Shorts Mag Team

Related Posts

503 - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag
Reviews

503: A Horror That You Might Wish Upon Some

22nd March 2023
Heather's Voice - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag
Reviews

Heather’s Voice: A Compelling Narrative Of A Futuristic Reality

20th March 2023
Next Post
European Short Pitch Announces Its Development Project, Mentorship & More For Its 16th Edition - Indie Shorts Mag

European Short Pitch Announces Its Development Project, Mentorship & More For Its 16th Edition

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sponsored

Advertise Here

Featured Post

Announcing Indie Shorts Mag Short Film Festival(ISMSFF) 2022

Announcing Indie Shorts Mag Short Film Festival(ISMSFF) 2022

  • Recent Reviews
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Youtube Vimeo

About Indie Shorts Mag

Indie Shorts Mag is a publishing agency that works within the ‘short film circuit’. We review short films, documentaries, music videos and web series, amongst others. We stand out amongst the short film review sites for being multi-diverse & global in our platform and reach.
Our team works tirelessly to help promote, publicize and market your short films that deserve the shout-out! Besides reviews, we host film festival news as it’s a known fact that the film festival buzz is unmissable and we ensure you aren’t left behind!
We aspire to form a niche for ourselves as the ‘short film magazine’ that remains the hub for filmmakers & their audience.

Popular Topics

  • Announcements
  • Articles
  • Crowdfunding
  • Editorial
  • Film Festival News
  • Film Festivals
  • India Edition
  • Interviews
  • Marketing
  • Marketing
  • News
  • Online Premiere
  • Post-Production
  • Pre-Production
  • Reviews
  • Short Film
  • Short Film Competition
  • Short Film News
  • Tutorials
  • Web Series

Indie Shorts Mag on Instagram

Follow Us On Instagram

  • #ShortFilmReview: Order 27: Who’s going to tell Moscow? Read our review and watch the short film. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Love You Tyler: They were roommates. Read our review and watch the short film. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Sealed boxes meet open books. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Parasites survive on an illusion of importance. Read our review and watch the short film. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: What’s charm got to do with it? Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Vacation: If you don’t have the tropics, store-bought is fine. Read our review and watch the short film. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: La Leyenda del Sombrerón: The hunter of souls stands still, sure of prey. Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm
  • #ShortFilmReview: Chekhov
  • #ShortFilmReview: Silver Screen Suicide: Reel absorbs the real. Or is it the other way around? Read our review. Link in bio.

#ShortFilm #Review #IndieFilmReview #FilmReview #SupportIndieFilm

© 2015-2023 Indie Shorts Mag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Film Festival News
    • Short Film News
  • Reviews
    • Short Film
    • Documentary
    • Web Series
  • Hall of Fame
  • Short Film Festival – 2023
  • Tutorials
    • Pre-Production
    • Post-Production
  • Short Film TV
  • Submit Short Film
    • Submit Short Film for Review
    • Submit Web Series for Review

© 2015-2023 Indie Shorts Mag.