Sakura is part of A Silent War, a COVID-19 response poetry project written by Ross Thompson during the first lockdown. The poem represents a moment of ephemeral beauty as scented spring blossom catches the poet’s imagination, reminding him of the enduring persistence of the life force amidst the dark days of the pandemic.
In the poem, nature weeps softly with the world, but endures, a sense that resonates with Terence McDonald’s film, Requiem for Sally (1979), which also uses the motif of cherry blossom as a symbol of the fragility of life. In her creative response to Sakura, Artist, Filmmaker and Musician, Susan Hughes drew on the visual imagery from McDonald’s film, which itself shows the influence of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now (1979). The resulting film contains heart-stoppingly beautiful visual moments, with a delicate, yet stately soundtrack that celebrates and laments those fleeting moments of illumination.