Staff Pick Award for Palm Springs ShortFest 2022: "Meantime" by Michael T Workman |
I am so tired with waiting.
Aren't you,
In order for the world to improve
Also beautiful and nice?
Let's grab the knife
And cut the world in two-
Check out the worms that consume
In the rind.
--Langston Hughes "Good Morning, Revolution: Uncollected Social Protest Writings
The winner of the Staff Pick Award at Palm Springs Shortfest 2022 is "Meantime" written by Michael T Workman. Michael placed a camera inside his dad's home to make a "deeply personal investigation of memory, guilt, labor and the effort to preserve the fleeting." That's at least it's the way its logline is written. What is so beautiful about this documentary is that it isn't truly about the vague description of human sentiment. "Meantime" puts upon the causes of evils that plague the United States: capitalism, inhumane labor practices, inadequate care for people suffering with mental illness and the reality that the American motto of "pull yourself by your bootstraps" is an physically impossible task. The film outlines the ways in which people in the United States fails to fully take care of its people, from birth to death. The way Michael says in a lyrical way in the Q&A "
"It isn't evident, but I am convinced that the focus of this film is the inhumanity of capitalism. ...My dad was a victim of a system that views people as "human resources," an ideology which dehumanizes people who do not fit into an uncompromising system of work and exploitation. "
Filmmaking as stark like the harsh Montana winter it is set in, "Meantime" is a film about wounded souls who nonetheless grew into kind and loving individuals.
We were able to ask Michael some questions concerning the creation of this personal portrait of the family and were thrilled by his kind and caring answer. Check out the following excerpts of our conversation with Michael.
On inspiration:
"The idea for this film came to me after helping my dad digitize the home movies he had taken. As I watched them I had these profoundly emotional moments in the small little moments my dad captured. The most memorable moments were not birthdays, christmas parties or weddings that were most profound. It was the moments where my family members were in between, waiting for something important to occur and then laughing, talking or fighting. Through those times, I observed those I had known at different phases of their lives, and my understanding of their experience was beginning to grow. I had always been pretty averse to the idea of making films for personal use, but watching the footage, and then discovering that I was back in Montana inspired me to make this film. ."
His tips on filming family:
"Working with family members is so difficult. Deciding when to stop the camera to just be there was the most difficult thing. By the end of the day, my father and I had stopped recording. I'm comfortable simply hiding behind my camera at present. The best advice for filmmakers who work with family would be to plan the times and events that you plan to shoot and utilize that to limit your filming. You shouldn't film everything all the time and do not follow what's going on. Think through what you want to film and then let the camera roll. After you're finished, you're done. There will be things you miss and that's fine. It's crucial to make sure that what you do capture will increase the likelihood of being meaningful and impressive. After that, turn off the camera, and start living your everyday life ."
On his family's reaction to the film
"My family members have watched the film. I showed it to my mom after I was done and it was by far one of the most intense experiences I've had. As the film is personal to me, I went through periods of feeling totally numb to it and times of intense emotion. While watching it with my mom, tiny subtleties in the film made me tear up without a break. It's a testament to how much the context of your audience watching a movie with could dramatically alter your experience the film. It was a healing experience for us both and she learned more about my dad's perspective which she didn't know about at the time.
I was the most anxious about showing the film to my dad. We planned to share the experience but it wasn't the right time, so he decided to watch the film on his own. After he called me and told me he watched it at home, my heart broke. He said something along lines of "Mike I saw your film, it's an excellent film and I'll probably never go back to it." The most significant source of anxiety for him wasn't the vulnerability that he shared; instead it was his own reflection on the screen, as well as hearing his own voice. It was the voice that made him feel uncomfortable (for myself too). )."
On challenges faced:
"The toughest part of making this film was creating a distance between me and the film. This is my opinion as the main issue with personal projects, and the area where it fails most often. The personal films are often emotionally charged for the creator but not for the viewer. I wanted to avoid the situation at all cost and try to separate myself from the movie and think of it as something that doesn't know me personally. Since I was editing, this was a constant issue. I overcame this through having a lot of trusted individuals around me who gave me honest critical feedback ."
We should to think about when watching the film
"It isn't apparent, but I think that the topic of this film is the cruelty of capitalism. This is, in the end, the root of my dad's struggle to have an enjoyable and secure life. While abuse may be the cause of his struggle, lack of support to heal from that trauma is a societal failure, not an individual failure. My dad is a product of a society that treats individuals as "human resources," an approach that takes away the humanity of people who cannot conform to a rigid system of labor exploitation.
The capitalist system gives the working class the choice of working or beg on the street. Although this isn't explicitly made clear in the film it forms the underworld basis of the story. If the people who were in my father's situation had access to quality physical and mental health in the form of housing, food, and shelter without having to justify their human rights by living in a miserable environment, they could live fulfilled and safe lives where they could work on healing their wounds.
The crucial detail on the titles of the film is that my father's stroke was triggered through a panic attack while at workplace because the firm wanted to increase profits by understaffing the nursing home in which he was employed. I realized this was a frequent occurrence for him when I was making the film, when I discovered that stress at work rather than the pressure of raising children was the reason that led to my dad's mental illness as a young child.
It is also my hope that this film inspires people to value the time they have with their loved family members and to discuss the effects of trauma and hardship with compassion and an open setting. In the end, the heart of this movie is taking care of our parents by being able to understand them as human beings and respecting the precious moments you spend with them ."
Michael's advice to aspiring film makers:
"I always remind my students to fight tooth and nail to keep their enthusiasm for making movies. Each step the industry will attempt to make you go through the middle of the road to make you someone other's instrument. They'll try to take all the fun out of it and create artificially high stakes for making an absurdly boring media. Anyone who's been for a major advertising company will understand this. The best advice I can give is to do something that gets you excited, if your wage labor job isn't. Continue to work on the films you make yourself or on pursuits that help you feel like an artist. If you get into Sundance however, you've totally forgotten the pleasure of making films What's the point of working on this? ?"
What's next?
"I'm developing a feature documentary idea that will be an observational character-driven woven-narrative film set in a town that is mining in Montana. It's in the early stages of development so I'm not able to say about it at the moment.
I'm currently working on a story about people who have work that they realize is totally unproductive. If you're in a position like this, do not hesitate to contact me and email me. We're currently hiring ."