DOC - In Her Name

Documentary Feature

Title: In Her Name

Project Status: In Postproduction

Logline 

When she learns that her grandmother’s accidental death may in fact have been suicide, actress and filmmaker Keiko Elizabeth goes on a search for the truth that leads her across the globe and deep into her family’s untold history. In Her Name explores the emotional, psychological, and spiritual legacy of World War II incarceration over three generations of one Japanese American family.

Synopsis

In Her Name follows actress Keiko Elizabeth as she embarks on a deeply personal journey to uncover the truth about her grandmother, for whom she was named. Keiko grew up with a supernatural connection to her late grandmother, whose unexpected death was passed down through whispered family stories and unspoken grief. Now an adult, Keiko uncovers a shocking revelation: her grandmother’s death may not have been accidental but a suicide. This revelation leads her on an intimate and painful search for answers, intertwining personal history with the broader legacy of Japanese American incarceration during World War II. Her investigation is complicated by her father’s advancing dementia and resistance to challenging the family’s narrative. Keiko travels across the U.S. and Japan, sifting through archives, police reports, and interviewing family members and experts. SYNOPSIS Alongside this factual investigation, Keiko uses her craft as an actor to explore her grandmother’s emotional and psychological struggles. She stages haunting reenactments, including her grandmother’s interrogation by the Department of Justice, where she renounced her U.S. citizenship, and her grueling, mile-long walk while in labor at Tule Lake. These artistically-rendered performances (and the behind-the-scenes documentation of their making) blur the lines between past and present, actor and subject, revealing Keiko’s deep longing to connect with the woman whose memory shaped her life. As she uncovers painful family truths, Keiko is also forced to confront her fractured relationship with her father and the silence that has defined generations. Combining archival footage, verité, and evocative reenactments, In Her Name is a powerful exploration of intergenerational trauma, memory, and identity—revealing how voicing buried histories can illuminate and heal the present.

Team

Director: Keiko Elizabeth; Producers: Kitty Hu and Shannon Sun-Higgingson; EP: Caroline Waterlow; Editor: Satoko Sugiyama; Cinematographer: Judy Pau

Seeking

Finishing Funds, Distribution Support

Contact

Keiko Elizabeth, Next of Kin Films, Inc

keiko@keikoelizabeth.com