The son lives on the streets; the mother walks the avenues in search of traces. The only proof of life are the graffiti he leaves on the city’s walls — which she begins to document. Then, as if that paint were a letter, she takes up the spray can in search of a reply.
A woman has lived for years in Stockholm with no news of her son. The only traces of his existence are scattered across the city in the form of tags he leaves on walls – signatures she has recognised since his childhood and which, to her, feel like an echo of his voice. These signs of life are her last refuge: she begins to follow and photograph them with devotion, assembling a photo album that becomes an intimate, obsessive archive of loss. Keeping her identity playfully concealed, the film observes her quiet, persistent gestures, until she finds an unexpected way to respond – and perhaps to reconnect. Blending present-day images with fragments of the past, this tender and moving film about maternal love casts new light on the potential of graffiti – even in its rawest forms – as a gesture of presence, memory and communication. (Cláudia Marques)
