Letters to cure loneliness

“Sincerely Eric” is a new short film by writer and director Naz Riahi. The film explains the feeling of being alone and loneliness in a natural and sincere way.

I have first come to know about Naz Riahi in one of the blog posts of Garance Dore. It was an article written by Riahi called “The Hungry Heart”, where she talks about her relationships through food. I was intrigued by the article so I searched for her online. I started to read her articles online which have spoken to me very much and I decided to join her newsletters. Through the times of isolation, seeing her newsletters in my mailbox had been a delight. So when I read that there was a new short film by her, I immediately watched it.

​Eric is a bookshop owner in New York. During isolation, he starts to sell books online. While packing the orders, he puts small notes about what he thinks of his customers, based on what they choose to purchase. In a world where it is almost impossible to be alone, we were dismantled from our social lives and forced to become social with ourselves. We all tried to find solutions for our loneliness. We started not to fear FMO because everybody was missing out. The Instagram Lives or the Zoom meetings made us feel close with our loved ones and reminded us that we were still there and living. Some of us were lucky enough to go through this time with their loved ones. I was one of those lucky people. Eric, who lives alone, gets through this time with the help of the letters he writes to his customers. He writes his letters as if he is chatting with his customers at the store. He ends all of his letters by writing “Sincerely Eric”.

While watching the film, I thought about the books I ordered online. What if I was a customer of Eric? How would I feel when my package arrived with a handwritten letter written by someone I did not know? During this time where you talk to your close ones through a virtual environment, this handwritten note would make me feel cherished. The first thing I would do, would be to reply to his letter with a letter. And after all these have passed, I would probably go to his store and thank him for his letter which made me feel cherished.

​When I was in elementary school, we had a school project to have a pen friend. We were all supposed to write letters to a person we didn’t know and talk to them about ourselves. Knowing someone without seeing them… Isn’t this what Eric does to start a friendship? Sending a letter to someone you do not know because of the books they choose to purchase without knowing if they are going to reply.

As the film continues Eric calls someone whom we think is a close friend. They chat about what they have been doing during this time. He tells her that he has been going to the store to ship the orders he had received. During their conversation, we learn that there is a woman Eric likes. She came to the store one day and they have chatted. He asks his friend whether he should get in touch with her or not. Finally, Eric writes her an email and ends it with “Sincerely Eric”.

During these last months there has been so much things written about Covid-19, isolation and pandemic. What makes “Sincerely Eric” special, is the way it talks about the feelings that we all go through in a hearth felt way. As Naz Riahi says “Sincerely, Erik is a love letter to New York, books and the lonely hearts.” Life goes on. And however it is, we are still part of it.