A century of letters captures the emotions of life in a new city, far from home

In Nine Letters, words bridge the distance between friends, lovers and family, forming a gentle meditation on living away from home. The Brazilian-Swiss filmmaker Cristina Müller’s poignant work includes a series of letters and cards ranging from the 1930s to the present day, each of them written by someone who, like Müller, is somewhere other than home. With each letter narrated in the authors’ original language, the stories transport viewers across eras and places, while the visuals offer contemplative shots of modern New York City passing through the seasons. From falling snowflakes to the many colours of the sky, from cinema trips to political opinions, the short captures the sensation of living both ‘here and there’, as Müller puts it. In her rendering, this somehow feels both particular to New York and familiar to anyone who has taken up life in a new city, far from everyone and everything they once knew.