A Letter from the Father
Austin, Texas | Film Short
Drama, Family
Driving to their father’s funeral, brothers Agustín and Álvaro are force to reckon with both the possibility of forgiving their father and themselves, as their pain surfaces. Through confrontation and their father’s final words, they find the fragile sense of grace they've been searching for.
A Letter from the Father
Austin, Texas | Film Short
Drama, Family
1 Campaigns |
Green Light
This campaign raised $4,800 for development. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
14 supporters | followers
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Driving to their father’s funeral, brothers Agustín and Álvaro are force to reckon with both the possibility of forgiving their father and themselves, as their pain surfaces. Through confrontation and their father’s final words, they find the fragile sense of grace they've been searching for.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LOGLINE
"On the drive to their estranged father's funeral, the two brothers' conflicting views on forgiveness reignite the wounds of their past. What begins as a journey of obligation turns into one of painful truths and unexpected awakening."
SYNOPSIS
A Letter from the Father is a quiet, meditative, minimalist humanist drama that follows two brothers, Agustín and Álvario, on the long drive to their estranged father’s funeral. Once close, the brothers have grown distant from each other, each having taken a divergent path in life: Agustín, now a priest, and Álvario, a blue-collar laborer hardened by work and time. Their journey unfolds in tense, awkward silence, broken only by Agustín’s tentative attempts at small talk.
What begins as a casual conversation slowly transforms into a reckoning over whether their father deserves forgiveness. As the miles pass, their opposing beliefs and lived experiences sharpen into conflict: Agustín’s faith-driven call for mercy collides with Álvario’s unyielding realism. Old wounds resurface, long-buried resentments spill into the open, and the debate escalates into a raw, unforgiving confrontation—one that forces them to confront the pain that has defined their relationship and culminates in a violent rupture.
At their lowest point, the brothers are left with no choice but to attend their father’s lonely funeral. There, they receive his final words—written in a letter meant only for them. Within it is the last memory he carried of his sons, one they never knew existed. The letter leaves them silent. The brothers become overwhelmed by a profound sense of grace within their hearts & souls. They become aware of the newly revealed beauty around them and in each other. As they step out of the church and return to the city, they do so changed, moving through a world newly revealed, learning to see their father, each other, and the quiet beauty surrounding them for the first time.
CHARACTERS
AGUSTÍN
Agustín Palma is a disciplined, soft-spoken young priest whose idealism is expressed through careful language and measured confidence. Beneath his composed exterior lies a buried wound of anger and resentment—one he has denied for so long that he no longer recognizes it as his own. Over the course of the journey, Agustín is forced to confront what he has refused to see and to reckon with the steadfast belief he has held for years.
ÁLVARO
Álvaro Palma is a tough, plain-spoken, blue-collar man whose cynicism comes out as harsh, emotionally charged language. His anger—especially toward his father—acts as a shield, a way of turning himself and the world away from the deeper pain he refuses to face. Over the course of the journey, Álvaro is forced to confront the suffering he has buried and begin to see the world, and himself, without the distortion of long-held agony.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
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We have been in pre-production since 2025, carefully developing the film and working to bring this story to life. The project includes several complex technical and logistical elements rarely attempted in a student-led production. Our team has taken great care to plan these components thoroughly, ensuring they can be executed to their fullest creative potential while maintaining strict safety standards. With an exceptional, dedicated crew, we are committed to creating a thoughtful, visually compelling film that resonates with audiences.
PRODUCTION TIMELINE
We are currently planning to shoot between May 15–17 and May 22–24, with the goal of completing a festival-ready cut by late September.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PRODUCTION BUDGET
We are currently seeking to raise $6,000 to support the production of our film.
Cast & Crew
We hope to fairly compensate our talented cast and crew for the time, skill, and dedication they bring to this project.
Locations & Permits
Our film requires securing road permits and filming in a church location. These funds will help cover permit fees and allow us to properly compensate the church for the use of their space.
Transportation
Funds will support transportation needs during production, including a vehicle for filming and gas reimbursements for travel to our shooting locations.
Food & Craft Services
Keeping our cast and crew well-fed is essential to maintaining energy and morale throughout long production days.
Equipment
To achieve the visual quality this story deserves, we will rent specialized gear, including a car rig, dolly equipment, and premium cinema lenses.
Production Design
This includes props, costumes, set dressing, and any makeup needed to bring the film's world to life.
Post-Production
Funding will help cover professional scoring and sound mixing, ensuring the final film meets a high technical and artistic standard.
Contingency
A small reserve to cover any unexpected expenses or additional costs that may arise during production.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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The film explores a self-revelatory journey through visual restraint—and its breaking. A naturalistic tone paired with restrained composition draws the viewer into a state of meditative discomfort, where stillness and repetition create tension. Light and color, reflecting the calm beauty of the natural world, bring us fully present into the characters' fragile relationship. When tension reaches its peak, the visual rules fracture through movement - movement, exposure, and color shift - pulling us out of meditation and into a state of pure awakening.
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_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ask yourself...
When was the last time you truly saw someone? Not just as a face in the crowd or a body passing by, but as a whole and complicated human being—one full of indescribable beauty, contradiction, emotion, and depth. And when was the last time you truly saw the world around you: the sky above, the road below, the quiet vastness of it all? I often ask myself whether I see people and the world in this way. Most of the time, I don’t.
Our modern way of life rarely allows us to stop and notice what’s around us. Everything has become hyper-focused on attention, forward motion, progress, and efficiency. Even filmmaking has evolved toward these impulses—faster, louder, more insistent. But when are we allowed to stop? When are we allowed to truly see?
With this film, I want to create something few short films dare to reach for—a quiet meditation and awakening. A film that stirs the spirit and the heart, that cuts through the noise and allows the audience, if only for a fleeting moment, to feel the profound attunement of shared humanity and the beauty that surrounds us. I want to give people that moment of pause and the ability to see the person next to them after the film with all their hearts. If the film can spark even that brief recognition, then it will have achieved something lasting.
- Austin Keith, Writer & Director
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If you’re unable to financially support the project, there are still many ways you can help! Simply following, liking, and sharing our film page (@alftf_shortfilm) with family and friends helps us gain visibility and reach a wider audience.
If you’re interested in getting involved with the production, feel free to send us a DM on Instagram or email us at [email protected].
Thank you for your support. We’re excited to bring this project to life and truly appreciate everyone helping make this production possible.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Equipment
Costs $1,000
For filming
Cast & Crew
Costs $2,000
For proper talent
Location & Art
Costs $700
To make it look pretty
Food & Crafty
Costs $1,000
To feed.
Post-Production
Costs $700
For music and audio mixing
Transport & Misc
Costs $600
To help out
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Austin Keith - Writer & Director
Austin Nomura Keith is a Japanese-American filmmaker and Radio-Television-Film student at the University of Texas at Austin. With a deep-rooted passion for cinema and the arts, he draws inspiration from a wide range of films and artistic traditions across cultures and genres. His work places a heightened emphasis on film as a visual medium, prioritizing imagery, atmosphere, and emotional resonance. As he steps into his first major project, A Letter from the Father, Austin is committed to fostering an project’s vision to life and continuing to develop a voice rooted in visual storytelling and personal reflection.
Liam Parry - Producer
Liam Parry is an Australian-American producer and director who specializes in working on genre-blending, humanist stories. With a wide range of work spanning numerous short film projects, he’s gained immense experience in managing productions. He plans to utilize this in A Letter From the Father to help bring this project to fruition.
Natalie Liguez - Producer
Natalie Liguez is a junior Radio-Television-Film major at the University of Texas at Austin, with a focus on production design and producing. She has experience working on more than 20 film sets across music videos, feature films, thesis projects, and commercial productions. Through these experiences, she has developed a strong passion for visual storytelling and collaborative production. She is thrilled to be part of this team and to help bring this project to life.
Tanner Kopel - Producer
Tanner is a Radio-Television-Film student at the University of Texas and the producer of A Letter From the Father. This is his first time producing a short film, and he is excited to take on a larger creative and leadership role after working on many sets in different positions. He is passionate about collaborative storytelling and bringing meaningful projects to life, and is grateful to be working with an incredible student team to bring the film to life.
Shrey Tiwari - Director of Photography
Shrey Tiwari is an Indian-American Director of Photography based in Texas and California. He is drawn to stories that inspire impact and change. He enjoys collaborating with fellow creatives to craft thoughtful, visually driven storytelling. Through his work as an image-maker and artist of light with clients such as A24, AUS Airport, and West 22nd Band, he has developed his voice alongside talented directors across many forms of visual storytelling.
Drew Gordon - Assistant Director
Drew Gordon is a filmmaker based in Austin, TX. With experience in writing, directing, producing, and assistant directing numerous award-winning dramatic and comedic short films, he hopes to leverage his organizational and project management skills as a career assistant director.
Mario Jaar - 2nd AD
Mario Jaar is a filmmaker and producer at the University of Texas at Austin with extensive experience supporting productions from development through principal photography. As Producer on A Letter from a Father, he is helping guide the project’s organization, logistics, and execution while supporting the director’s vision across every stage of production. As a storyteller, he is drawn to grounded, character-driven films that explore responsibility and the emotional weight carried within families, sensibilities that drew him to come aboard the project.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LOGLINE
"On the drive to their estranged father's funeral, the two brothers' conflicting views on forgiveness reignite the wounds of their past. What begins as a journey of obligation turns into one of painful truths and unexpected awakening."
SYNOPSIS
A Letter from the Father is a quiet, meditative, minimalist humanist drama that follows two brothers, Agustín and Álvario, on the long drive to their estranged father’s funeral. Once close, the brothers have grown distant from each other, each having taken a divergent path in life: Agustín, now a priest, and Álvario, a blue-collar laborer hardened by work and time. Their journey unfolds in tense, awkward silence, broken only by Agustín’s tentative attempts at small talk.
What begins as a casual conversation slowly transforms into a reckoning over whether their father deserves forgiveness. As the miles pass, their opposing beliefs and lived experiences sharpen into conflict: Agustín’s faith-driven call for mercy collides with Álvario’s unyielding realism. Old wounds resurface, long-buried resentments spill into the open, and the debate escalates into a raw, unforgiving confrontation—one that forces them to confront the pain that has defined their relationship and culminates in a violent rupture.
At their lowest point, the brothers are left with no choice but to attend their father’s lonely funeral. There, they receive his final words—written in a letter meant only for them. Within it is the last memory he carried of his sons, one they never knew existed. The letter leaves them silent. The brothers become overwhelmed by a profound sense of grace within their hearts & souls. They become aware of the newly revealed beauty around them and in each other. As they step out of the church and return to the city, they do so changed, moving through a world newly revealed, learning to see their father, each other, and the quiet beauty surrounding them for the first time.
CHARACTERS
AGUSTÍN
Agustín Palma is a disciplined, soft-spoken young priest whose idealism is expressed through careful language and measured confidence. Beneath his composed exterior lies a buried wound of anger and resentment—one he has denied for so long that he no longer recognizes it as his own. Over the course of the journey, Agustín is forced to confront what he has refused to see and to reckon with the steadfast belief he has held for years.
ÁLVARO
Álvaro Palma is a tough, plain-spoken, blue-collar man whose cynicism comes out as harsh, emotionally charged language. His anger—especially toward his father—acts as a shield, a way of turning himself and the world away from the deeper pain he refuses to face. Over the course of the journey, Álvaro is forced to confront the suffering he has buried and begin to see the world, and himself, without the distortion of long-held agony.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
We have been in pre-production since 2025, carefully developing the film and working to bring this story to life. The project includes several complex technical and logistical elements rarely attempted in a student-led production. Our team has taken great care to plan these components thoroughly, ensuring they can be executed to their fullest creative potential while maintaining strict safety standards. With an exceptional, dedicated crew, we are committed to creating a thoughtful, visually compelling film that resonates with audiences.
PRODUCTION TIMELINE
We are currently planning to shoot between May 15–17 and May 22–24, with the goal of completing a festival-ready cut by late September.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PRODUCTION BUDGET
We are currently seeking to raise $6,000 to support the production of our film.
Cast & Crew
We hope to fairly compensate our talented cast and crew for the time, skill, and dedication they bring to this project.
Locations & Permits
Our film requires securing road permits and filming in a church location. These funds will help cover permit fees and allow us to properly compensate the church for the use of their space.
Transportation
Funds will support transportation needs during production, including a vehicle for filming and gas reimbursements for travel to our shooting locations.
Food & Craft Services
Keeping our cast and crew well-fed is essential to maintaining energy and morale throughout long production days.
Equipment
To achieve the visual quality this story deserves, we will rent specialized gear, including a car rig, dolly equipment, and premium cinema lenses.
Production Design
This includes props, costumes, set dressing, and any makeup needed to bring the film's world to life.
Post-Production
Funding will help cover professional scoring and sound mixing, ensuring the final film meets a high technical and artistic standard.
Contingency
A small reserve to cover any unexpected expenses or additional costs that may arise during production.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The film explores a self-revelatory journey through visual restraint—and its breaking. A naturalistic tone paired with restrained composition draws the viewer into a state of meditative discomfort, where stillness and repetition create tension. Light and color, reflecting the calm beauty of the natural world, bring us fully present into the characters' fragile relationship. When tension reaches its peak, the visual rules fracture through movement - movement, exposure, and color shift - pulling us out of meditation and into a state of pure awakening.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ask yourself...
When was the last time you truly saw someone? Not just as a face in the crowd or a body passing by, but as a whole and complicated human being—one full of indescribable beauty, contradiction, emotion, and depth. And when was the last time you truly saw the world around you: the sky above, the road below, the quiet vastness of it all? I often ask myself whether I see people and the world in this way. Most of the time, I don’t.
Our modern way of life rarely allows us to stop and notice what’s around us. Everything has become hyper-focused on attention, forward motion, progress, and efficiency. Even filmmaking has evolved toward these impulses—faster, louder, more insistent. But when are we allowed to stop? When are we allowed to truly see?
With this film, I want to create something few short films dare to reach for—a quiet meditation and awakening. A film that stirs the spirit and the heart, that cuts through the noise and allows the audience, if only for a fleeting moment, to feel the profound attunement of shared humanity and the beauty that surrounds us. I want to give people that moment of pause and the ability to see the person next to them after the film with all their hearts. If the film can spark even that brief recognition, then it will have achieved something lasting.
- Austin Keith, Writer & Director
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If you’re unable to financially support the project, there are still many ways you can help! Simply following, liking, and sharing our film page (@alftf_shortfilm) with family and friends helps us gain visibility and reach a wider audience.
If you’re interested in getting involved with the production, feel free to send us a DM on Instagram or email us at [email protected].
Thank you for your support. We’re excited to bring this project to life and truly appreciate everyone helping make this production possible.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Equipment
Costs $1,000
For filming
Cast & Crew
Costs $2,000
For proper talent
Location & Art
Costs $700
To make it look pretty
Food & Crafty
Costs $1,000
To feed.
Post-Production
Costs $700
For music and audio mixing
Transport & Misc
Costs $600
To help out
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Austin Keith - Writer & Director
Austin Nomura Keith is a Japanese-American filmmaker and Radio-Television-Film student at the University of Texas at Austin. With a deep-rooted passion for cinema and the arts, he draws inspiration from a wide range of films and artistic traditions across cultures and genres. His work places a heightened emphasis on film as a visual medium, prioritizing imagery, atmosphere, and emotional resonance. As he steps into his first major project, A Letter from the Father, Austin is committed to fostering an project’s vision to life and continuing to develop a voice rooted in visual storytelling and personal reflection.
Liam Parry - Producer
Liam Parry is an Australian-American producer and director who specializes in working on genre-blending, humanist stories. With a wide range of work spanning numerous short film projects, he’s gained immense experience in managing productions. He plans to utilize this in A Letter From the Father to help bring this project to fruition.
Natalie Liguez - Producer
Natalie Liguez is a junior Radio-Television-Film major at the University of Texas at Austin, with a focus on production design and producing. She has experience working on more than 20 film sets across music videos, feature films, thesis projects, and commercial productions. Through these experiences, she has developed a strong passion for visual storytelling and collaborative production. She is thrilled to be part of this team and to help bring this project to life.
Tanner Kopel - Producer
Tanner is a Radio-Television-Film student at the University of Texas and the producer of A Letter From the Father. This is his first time producing a short film, and he is excited to take on a larger creative and leadership role after working on many sets in different positions. He is passionate about collaborative storytelling and bringing meaningful projects to life, and is grateful to be working with an incredible student team to bring the film to life.
Shrey Tiwari - Director of Photography
Shrey Tiwari is an Indian-American Director of Photography based in Texas and California. He is drawn to stories that inspire impact and change. He enjoys collaborating with fellow creatives to craft thoughtful, visually driven storytelling. Through his work as an image-maker and artist of light with clients such as A24, AUS Airport, and West 22nd Band, he has developed his voice alongside talented directors across many forms of visual storytelling.
Drew Gordon - Assistant Director
Drew Gordon is a filmmaker based in Austin, TX. With experience in writing, directing, producing, and assistant directing numerous award-winning dramatic and comedic short films, he hopes to leverage his organizational and project management skills as a career assistant director.
Mario Jaar - 2nd AD
Mario Jaar is a filmmaker and producer at the University of Texas at Austin with extensive experience supporting productions from development through principal photography. As Producer on A Letter from a Father, he is helping guide the project’s organization, logistics, and execution while supporting the director’s vision across every stage of production. As a storyteller, he is drawn to grounded, character-driven films that explore responsibility and the emotional weight carried within families, sensibilities that drew him to come aboard the project.