‘I Am Home’ Spotlights Navajo Traditions In A Beautiful Way

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It’s been a whirlwind year for filmmaker Kymon Greyhorse.

Six months after he graduated from the University of New Mexico, he learned his short film “I Am Home” had been selected to screen at Sundance, the largest independent film festival in the country. At just 23, Greyhorse — who is of Navajo and Tongan descent — was hobnobbing with big-name directors and A-list celebrities.

With “I Am Home,” it’s evident why he deserved to be there. The short film — which started off as a poem in August 2021 — is only a few minutes long, but it beautifully captures so much around identity, belonging and holding on to tradition in the modern world. Shot in one day in Window Rock, Arizona, “I Am Home” explores what it means to cherish where you come from. The work reveals some of the narratives Greyhorse wants to keep exploring in his filmmaking: his boundless love for the women who raised him, the complexities of his Pacific Islander — or Pasifika — identity, and how his familial relationships inform his work and outlook on life.

When Greyhorse started writing “I Am Home,” he had been isolating in Albuquerque, New Mexico, because of the pandemic and hadn’t seen his family or friends in person for over a year. Sitting alone for that period brought up all kinds of emotions, and he said “I Am Home” was like a warm hug he needed.

“All of that built-up loneliness and feeling lost and confused of what the future looked like for me — it was like I was almost desperate for anything that would ground me while I was slowly drifting off,” Greyhorse said. “I wanted to feel family. I wanted my anxiety to fade away and for someone to tell me that I’m good and that this feeling isn’t forever. So I took all of those emotions and put it to words.”

The filmmaker drew inspiration from an image…