“Meantime” was selected as a finalist in this year’s ShortList Film Festival, presented by TheWrap. You can watch the films and vote for your favorite here.
What began its life as a short film about a cult-like drug rehabilitation program ended up becoming even more personal for director Michael T. Workman. In “Meantime,” Workman fixes his camera on his father and, with the help of home videos from two different generations, explores parenthood, pressure and the pitfalls of a capitalistic society.
“It morphed into a film that was more about our relationship and more of a character study about him, and about memory, and familial guilt and the depravity of capitalism,” Workman said in a recent interview with TheWrap.
“Meantime” is an unflinching look into Workman’s father Tim’s life, as he struggles to keep his head above water in the aftermath of a stroke where he depends on food banks, attempts to fix his own truck and tries not to lose hope. Montana’s big sky has never looked so gray nor so bleak.
It was while helping Tim digitize his VHS tapes that he’d shot during Workman’s childhood, a task that many Millennials find themselves taking on with their parents, that the director began to consider adjusting the film’s focus.
“It was the first time I’d ever seen that footage and it was a very emotional experience for me, so I think that was the seed of the film,” Workman said. “The archival footage of [Tim’s] childhood came later.”
Tim faced a number of challenges throughout his life, stemming in part from his dyslexia, which at the time was deeply misunderstood, as well as childhood abuse which led to issues with addiction, much of which left Workman’s father feeling isolated and worthless, unable to fit into the unyielding demands of the traditional workplace.
“The way that our society is organized really harms and traumatizes people that can’t fit in and I think that’s kind of the inciting incident, my dad not being able to fit in because of his dyslexia, because he couldn’t spell or he was overweight as a kid, or whatever it is, all these things can lead to immense amounts of trauma in an individual that can then carry over into their life,” said Workman.
“It can lead them to medicating with alcohol or whatever, and inhibiting them from being able to be productive members of society and work, which then means that they aren’t allowed to have housing, health care, food, education, all of these things are taken away from them because they’re unable to fit into the strict work regime of capitalism,” he said.
Unsurprisingly, making “Meantime” has left Workman and his father closer than ever before and he hopes people consider their own relationships with their parents upon seeing the film.
“Talk to your parents about the hard things, if you can, in a way that isn’t hurtful to them. One thing I learned through this process is that there’s a really fine line,” Workman said. “Currently there’s so much discourse about diving into the hardest parts of your life and I think that can be helpful but it always needs to be gentle.”
“I think there were times where I felt like I went too far and it wasn’t constructive. There’s a fine line when people are talking to loved ones about trauma and try to be respectful of that.”
The 2023 ShortList Film Festival runs online from June 28 – July 12, honoring the top award-winning short films that have premiered at major festivals in the past year. Watch the finalists and vote for your favorite here