Nani’s Kitchen is a dramatic short film about identity in the wake of loss. It explores the truths that matriarchs protect for their families. A recently widowed Nani feels free in her home, enjoying her music loudly and gallivanting through her morning routine in the nude. A lunch visit that she forgot about with her daughter Renee and grandchildren interrupts her morning. Her daughter confronts her about an affair she learned her father had. Nani says their relationship was complicated and loving, choosing to protect her husband’s secret that he was queer. Nani wraps up lunch with her family and stands firm in her choice, affirming to her daughter that she has loved her life and will continue to. She is the exploration of a new hero archetype, an immigrant elderly Indo-Caribbean woman. Dancing into her new beginning while balancing immense grief.