A month before her college graduation, Hanako visits her Japanese grandmother in New York City for a weekend of connection and discovery.

Director Biography - Justine Kaneda

Justine Kaneda is an interdisciplinary filmmaker and performing artist. As a Japanese American, Justine strives to represent her culture and heritage through an authentic lens. Her work mainly engages with concepts of family dynamics, intergenerational experiences, and identity. Through her work, she seeks to highlight the diversity of the human experience.

She received her M.A. from New York University, where she concentrated in Film Production and Media Studies with a focus on cultural narratives. Previously, she graduated from Stanford University with an Interdisciplinary Honors in the Arts, earning a B.A. in Human Biology with a minor in Theater and Performance Studies.

Justine has screened at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), the Asia Society through New York Japan CineFest, and the Aichi International Women’s Film Festival, and won Best Asian American Pacific Islander Directed Short Film at the Phoenix Film Festival. She is also a Feature Film Programmer for the 49th Asian American International Film Festival.