The Institute for Contemporary Art San Jose is honored to partner with Bay Area poet Venus Jones for the Digital Love Letters short film. The creative concept is heavily based on Jones’ Digital Love Letters web project. She documents a period where she and her husband experienced living in a long-distance relationship, while she was pursuing higher education in Oakland, California. This visual project is a silent film format and uses her haikus, as subtitles. This short film is a conversation about love and the evolution of connection through technology. The challenging aspects of building and maintaining connections in a parasocial society are a complex topic alone. While the internet is fairly new, we have rapidly transitioned into a digital society. The Internet is now our form of connection. Through the internet platforms lies the dichotomy between physical and virtual intimacy.

Director: Tachiya Bryant

Executive Producers: Venus Jones and Tachiya Bryant

Filming and Editing: Tachiya Bryant

Cast: Venus Jones, Stephen Jones, Derrick Sanderling, Cayla Sanderling, Adaora Sanderling, Austin Taylor, and Kaitlyn Dickey

To read the full Digital Love Letter haikus visit www.Venusjones.com