Staff Pick Award for Palm Springs ShortFest 2022: "Meantime" by Michael T Workman |

 I am so tired with waiting.

 Aren't you,

 For the world to improve

 Also beautiful and nice?

 Let's grab the knife

 and cut the globe in two

 Check out what worms consume

 At 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" by Michael T Workman. Michael placed a camera inside his Dad Tim's house for an "deeply personal investigation of memory, guilt, labor as well as the desire to preserve the fleeting." That's at least this is what the logline reads. The thing that is beautiful about the documentary is that it's not really about those vague descriptions of human emotions. "Meantime" puts a magnifying glass on the product of negatives that devastate our United States: capitalism, poor labor practices, insufficient assistance for those suffering from mental illness, as well as an understanding that the American principle of "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" is a physically impossible feat. The movie explains the various ways in which people in the United States fails to fully provide for its citizens all the way from birth until death. The way Michael says in a lyrical way in our Q&A "

 "It might not seem evident, but I am convinced that the subject of this documentary is the inhumanity that capitalism has created. ...My dad was a victim of a culture that sees people as "human resources" a system that treats people as "human resources" and dehumanizes them when they are unable to fit into an uncompromising system of work and exploitation. "

As austere in its filmmaking like the harsh Montana winter it is set in, "Meantime" is a film about wounded souls who nonetheless grew into kind and caring people.

We were able to ask Michael some questions regarding the creation of this personal family photo and were awed by his thoughtful and warm answer. Find out more about the conversation we had with him.

 The inspiration for this:

 "The inspiration for this documentary came to me when I helped my father digitize his videos from home. While reviewing them, I experienced these deeply emotional instances in the tiniest and seemingly insignificant moments that my father recorded. It was not the celebrations for birthdays, Christmas parties, or weddings that were the most affecting. It was the moments where my family members were caught between, waiting for something important to happen and just laughing, talking or fighting. In those moments I saw the people I knew in various stages of their lives. My understanding of their experience became more granular. I had always been pretty anti-the idea of making personal films, but looking back at the footage and finding myself back home in Montana led me to want to produce this documentary. ."

 His tips on filming family:

 "Working with your family is so difficult. Knowing when to turn off the camera and just exist was the greatest challenge. In the middle of the session, my dad and I were over recording. It seems like I'm fine simply hiding behind my camera at present. The best advice for filmmakers who work with family would be to organize the time and place in which you are going to record and then use it as a limitation. You shouldn't film everything all the time, and don't follow what's going on. Consider what you would like to record and let your camera roll. When you are done you are finished. You will miss things but that's okay. The most important thing is to create a scenario in which what you do capture will increase the likelihood of being meaningful and impressive. Turn off your camera, and start enjoying your daily life ."

 On his family's reaction to the film

 "My family has seen the film. I gave it to my mother after I was done and it was by far one of the most intense experiences that I've had. Because this film is personal to me, I went through moments of being completely indifferent to it as well as instances of deep emotions. While watching it with my mother, a few details in the movie brought me to tears in a way that was hard to control. This just shows how much the context of the people you're watching the film with will profoundly alter the way you experience that film. It was an uplifting experience for both of us , and she was able to understand more of the perspective of my father that she was unable to see at the time.

 The most anxiety I had was showing it to my father. We had planned to share the experience however the timing was not right and he chose to view the film on his own. After he called me and informed me that he'd was watching it at home, my heart broke. He said something along the lines of "Mike I have watched your film, and it's excellent, and I'll never see it again." The primary source of stress for him was not his vulnerability in what he shared; instead it was the experience of watching him on the screen, as well as hearing his own voice that was most uncomfortable (for myself too). )."

 On challenges faced:

 "The hardest part of making this film was to create distance between myself and the film. This is my opinion as the most difficult part of personal projects and is the most frequently, it doesn't work. Personal films can be emotional to the filmmaker but not the audience. I tried to steer clear of any chance of this and to try and distance myself from the film , and consider it to be someone who does not know myself. Since I was the editor it was an ongoing issue. I overcame this with the help of many trustworthy people close to me, who provided me with constructive feedback. ."

 What he'd like us to consider upon viewing the film

 "It may not be obvious, but I believe the theme of this film is the cruelty of capitalism. In the end, it is the root of my dad's struggle to have a fulfilled and comfortable life. Although abuse could be the cause of my dad's struggle, the inability to recover from the trauma is an issue of societal norms, not an individual failure. My dad's story is the product of a culture that sees people as "human resources" which is a system that dehumanizes the people who can't be incorporated into an arbitrary system of exploitation and labor.

 Capitalism gives working class people two options: work or beg on the street. While this is never explicitly stated in the film, it forms the underworld basis of the plot. If the people who were in my father's circumstance had access to good mental and physical healthcare, housing, and food without the need to justify their worthiness by working in terrible conditions and living in a miserable environment, they would be able to live happy and in a safe environment where they could work on healing their trauma.

 The crucial detail on the titles for the documentary is my father's stroke was caused due to a panic attack during work because the company wanted to increase profits through understaffing the facility in which he was employed. I realized that this was an ongoing issue during the process of making the film, when I discovered the stress of work more than the stress of having a family was what led to my father's mental health crisis when I was a child.

 Also, I hope this film encourages viewers to value the time they get with their beloved ones and discuss trauma and hardship with compassion and an open setting. Ultimately the emotional core of the film revolves around taking care of our parents by being able to understand them as human beings and appreciating the moments you spend with them ."

 Michael's suggestions to budding film makers:

 "I constantly remind my students to fight tooth and nail to keep their enthusiasm for making movies. Each step it is a struggle for this industry to make you go through the middle of the road and turn you into someone else's tool. They'll attempt to take the fun out of it and create artificially high stakes in order to make an absurdly boring media. Anyone who's worked on a large advertising set can appreciate this. I would advise you to do things that make you feel excited even if your wage-labor work doesn't. Keep working on your own film or pursuits that help you feel as if you're an artist. If you're a part of Sundance however, you've totally lost interest in filmmaking What's the point of making this? ?"

 What's next?

 "I'm working on a feature-length documentary idea that will be a woven-narrative character-driven observational film located in the mining town of Montana. The project is in the beginning stage of development, so I'm unable to provide much beyond that currently.

 I'm currently working on a story that will focus on those who work in jobs they are aware of as totally unproductive. If you're looking for a job such as this, please reach out and email me. We are currently casting ."