Discover Meantime (2022), the compelling documentary short film by Michael T Workman. A poignant and contemplative look at the moments in between.
🕰️ Meantime (2022) — Documentary Short Film by Michael T Workman
A deeply personal yet universally resonant portrait, Meantime is a quiet, snow‑dusted meditation on memory, labor, and the fragile threads that bind family. Directed, shot, and edited by Michael T Workman, the 18‑minute short unfolds in the wintry stillness of Montana, where a son returns home to care for his father after a life‑altering stroke.
🧠Overview
- Genre: Documentary / Personal essay film
- Director, Cinematographer & Editor: Michael T Workman
- Original Score: Nicholas Merz & Evan Backer 🎼
- Runtime: ~18 minutes
- Country: USA 🇺🇸
- Language: English
- Premiere & Awards:
- Winner — Best Short Film, Telluride Mountainfilm 🏆
- Winner — Vimeo Staff Pick Award, Palm Springs ShortFest
- Winner — Best Short Documentary, BendFilm Festival
- Nominations — Best Short Doc at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival & Independent Film Festival Boston
- Festival circuit: Full Frame, Mountainfilm, Big Sky, San Francisco DocFest, Palm Springs ShortFest, BendFilm, Denver, Buffalo
Watch full short:
đź“– Story in Brief
After a work‑related stroke leaves his father Tim with troubling memory loss, Michael returns to Missoula, Montana — the most time they’ve spent together since his childhood.
- The Setting: A modest home surrounded by snow, where the days are measured in cups of coffee, quiet conversations, and the slow rhythm of recovery. ❄️
- The Past: Tim reflects on his years of labor, single parenting, and the moments that shaped him — some joyful, some heavy with regret.
- The Present: Michael films their time together, digitizing old home videos, and finding unexpected beauty in the “in‑between” moments — the pauses, the waiting, the small talk.
- The Understory: Beneath the family portrait lies a critique of the systems that shaped Tim’s life — the inhumanity of labor exploitation, the lack of support for those injured or ill, and the myth of “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.”
🛠️ Creative “Tools” & Style
- Observational intimacy: The camera lingers on gestures, silences, and the texture of daily life.
- Archival layering: Old VHS footage is woven into the present, collapsing decades into a single emotional thread.
- Seasonal metaphor: The bleak Montana winter mirrors the fragility of memory and the slowing of time.
- Minimalist score: Merz and Backer’s music is sparse, letting the ambient sounds of the house breathe.
- Political subtext: Without preaching, the film frames Tim’s story as part of a larger conversation about capitalism’s human cost.
✅ Pros & ❌ Cons
Pros
- 🎯 Emotional honesty: Feels lived‑in, not staged.
- 🎥 Craft precision: Every frame serves the mood and meaning.
- 🏆 Festival acclaim: Recognition from top documentary showcases.
- đź’¬ Layered storytelling: Personal narrative meets systemic critique.
Cons
- ⏳ Deliberate pacing: Viewers seeking fast‑moving docs may find it slow.
- 🌀 Emotional weight: The quiet sadness may linger long after viewing.
🌟 Themes & Resonance
- Memory & loss: How illness reshapes our relationship to the past.
- Labor & dignity: The toll of a lifetime of work on body and mind.
- Family reconnection: Finding closeness in unexpected seasons of life.
- Preserving the fleeting: The act of filming as an act of love.
đź‘Ą Who Is It For?
- Documentary lovers: Fans of intimate, character‑driven nonfiction.
- Social issue audiences: Viewers interested in labor rights and healthcare.
- Artists & archivists: Those who see beauty in preserving everyday moments.
đź’ˇ Humanized Takeaway
Meantime 2022 short film is about more than a father and son — it’s about the spaces between events, the pauses where life quietly happens. Workman turns his lens on the ordinary and finds the extraordinary: the resilience of a man shaped by work, the tenderness of a son learning to see his father anew, and the bittersweet truth that time, once gone, can only be revisited in memory.
🔍 Find More & Support
- Michael T Workman’s official Meantime page — synopsis, credits, and festival history
- Vimeo Staff Pick Award feature — interview with Workman on inspiration and process
- Mountainfilm Festival profile — festival synopsis and screening details