A Letter to Elia is a 2010 documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 directed by Kent Jones

Kent Jones

Thomas Kenton "Kent" Jones is a writer and performer on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, airing live M-F at 9 p.m. Eastern time...

 and Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese

Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...

 that follows the life and career of film director Elia Kazan

Elia Kazan

Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...

 and how he influenced Scorsese. Made from clips from films, stills, readings from Kazan's autobiography, a speech he wrote on directing read by Elias Koteas

Elias Koteas

Elias Koteas is a Canadian actor of film and television, best known for his roles in The Prophecy, Fallen and the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films.-Early life:...

, a videotaped interview done late in Kazan's life, and Scorsese's commentary on and off screen.