“In spite of everything I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing.” – Vincent Van Gogh

‘Keiko’, named after the whale from the movie Free Willy, is a gentle story about grief and the healing power of art and memory, A feeling shared by many as loss effects us all. After the death of her beloved grandmother, a young girl named Keiko struggles to cope with the loss of the person who inspired her love for creativity. Her grandmother, an artist, had been working on a final painting and planned to take Keiko to their favourite place the aquarium to finish it together.

When that day never comes, Keiko decides to go alone, feeling a pull to the aquarium and the need to keep her promise despite everything to her grandmother and do she set out for the first time in weeks carrying both the unfinished artwork and the weight of her sadness. What begins as a quiet visit soon turns into a small, unexpected adventure that helps her reconnect with the joy and imagination her grandmother shared with her. As Keiko explores the vibrant underwater world, she begins to rediscover joy as colour creeps back into her life as her deep sadness begins to heal.

Inspired by the filmmaker’s own grandmother, Keiko is a heartfelt story about loss, love, and remembering those who shape us making us into who we are today.