Father Time
A young girl who can’t let go of the past invents a time machine to see her father again after he dies, but things don’t go quite the way she planned.
Interview with Writer/Director/Cinematographer Steven J Mangurten
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I was interested in trying to capture the idea of loneliness and isolation on camera and to juxtapose it with a sense of love and human connection to see how the conflicting themes would play off each other. I really wanted to explore conveying a wild emotional arc that takes a character through excitement, joy, mystery, depression, loneliness, and isolation purely visually. I wanted to achieve that through composition as well as lighting and color. I also wanted to try to create and combine multiple time periods and visual styles. I was really excited to try pushing boundaries and see how the film stock could handle everything I wanted to throw at it.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Personally, I think it's just an enjoyable film to experience. It's a wild ride that will make you feel something in a short amount of time.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The most personal themes are also the most universal. Everyone has felt love and loss. Everyone has wanted something so badly but just couldn't have it. Everyone has felt lonely or isolated at some point in their lives. While the plot might not be a common experience, the story certainly is.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The film evolved immensely over the course of development through the final edit. It started with just an idea about shooting loneliness and turned into a relatively straightforward and linear version of the current plot. I cycled through a lot of ideas with my team about how to show what Casey really wants in an elegant way as well as how to connect her and her father effectively. I wrote something like eight drafts of this four page script. Then during the edit, it really took on this high energy, anxiety inducing experience that it currently is.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
It's been pretty well received by most people who have seen it. It's a little unusual in style and a lot of people find it fascinating.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
What surprised me was that more people than I anticipated seem to get it. I think some of the creative choices could have potentially not worked for a lot of people but that didn't end up being the case.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I would just love for as many people as possible to see the film. Perhaps there is a possibility of adapting this into a longer form. I would love the opportunity to really explore these ideas in much more depth.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I would love to show it at festivals so getting festival directors on board would be great. Distributors would be great too. If we were to expand this into a larger piece, I think producers and financiers would be needed to really push the boundaries to the next level and make it something bigger and more accessable for people.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I would really like for people to love these characters and this world. I hope that people just want to see more of them and experience more of this story.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What have you lost that you can never get back and what would you do to get it again?
Would you like to add anything else?
This is the first film of any kind that I directed since about ten years ago. It was a long, grueling, and sometimes painful process. It was also an incredibly rewarding experience. None of it would have been possible without the incredible people on my team keeping me sane and putting everything they had into making this happen. My producer Laze, production designer Zane Stein, and editor Patrick Devaney were all incredible through the entire process. Additionally, I felt incredibly fortunate to have everyone that showed up on set and contribute their amazing talent to the film to really make this happen.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Laze is currently in preproduction on his AFI thesis film, Cairn, which is still taking donations. Patrick is finishing post on a couple AFI thesis films, Before You and The Erl King, which will be premiering soon. Zane has been working as production designer or art director on a number of features and shows recently. My AFI thesis film, The Cowboy Pecan Pie, is currently in post and will be done in the next couple months. I also have a feature that just finished a festival run, For the Hits, as well as another feature that is still in post and should be released next year, Bits.
Interview: November 2021
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Father Time
Length:
3:10 minutes
Writer/Director/Cinematographer
Born and raised in Chicago, STEVE MANGURTEN moved out to LA after high school to pursue a career in film and subsequently graduated from Columbia College Hollywood with a BFA in film production. He spent the last decade working as a cinematographer shooting various projects including feature films, branded content, documentaries and short films, before deciding to take his passion for visual storytelling further by pursuing his MFA in cinematography at the AFI Conservatory. His most recently released feature film, RING RING (starring Lou Ferrigno, Malcolm Goodwin, Kirby Bliss Blanton), had a limited theatrical run and is currently available on Amazon Prime along with his earlier film, PAINT IT RED (starring Martin Kove, Sally Kirkland, Cassie Steele, Jack McGee). He also shot the feature documentary A FATHERLESS GENERATION which screened at multiple international film festivals. His third feature film, FOR THE HITS, is currently enjoying success on a strong festival run and will be released later this year.
Producer
LAZE HUANG, born and raised in China, originally studied Electrical and Computer Engineering at UCLA before discovering a love for film. Self-taught in the art of filmmaking, he directed and produced multiple short films prior attending AFI to study independent producing. SLUG WATCHING, his short film about disability, received second place in the college division at the 2nd Grand Foundation Student Film Festival.
Key cast:
Nemi Brooks (Casey), Patrick Randolph (Dad)
Looking for:
film festival directors, journalists, distributors, buyers
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/steven.j.mangurten
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/dirt_mangurt/
Hashtags used:
#KodakShootFilm #ShotOnFilm
Made in association with:
AFI Conservatory