WINNER of the Best of Student Docs Contest 2010 - Short Documentary Category

The Time Machine tells the story of Wilfredo Alvarez, a Honduran immigrant who works in a small watch shop in New York City's Grand Central terminal. The film is a fascinating exploration of craft, culture, identity and the nature of time itself, as we struggle together to navigate the universe.

Mark Kendall grew up in Ardmore, PA and graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University in 2005 with a B.A. in Anthropology and again in 2008 with a M.A. in Latin American & Iberian Studies. He first began making films in the summer of 2007 as part of the School for International Training’s Lens on Latin America documentary film program in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Mark’s first film, For the People, By the People, about a network of indigenous filmmakers in Bolivia who use film and video technology as part of their struggle for cultural and political representation, screened at the 2008 Student Conference on Latin American Social and Public Policy at the University of Pittsburgh and at over a dozen film festivals around the world, winning a number of “Best Student Film” awards along the way. His first graduate-level film, The Time Machine, premiered in March 2010 at the Washington DC Independent Film Festival where it was honored with the “Grand Jury Award for Best Student Film.” Since then, it has been named “Best Short Documentary” at the Arizona International Film Festival, “Best Student Film” at the West Chester Film Festival, and was the recipient of the “Silver Palm Award” at the Mexico International Film Festival. Other festival screenings to date include the Nashville Film Festival, the Memphis International Film Festival, the Indianapolis International Film Festival and the Bronx International Film Festival.

Before beginning his MFA at the School of Visual Arts’ Social Documentary Film program, Mark spent a summer backpacking around Europe, worked as a private tutor in Nashville, TN, and studied traditional medicine in Carhuaz, Peru.  He currently lives in Brooklyn, where he is working on his thesis film, La Camioneta.

EDINDOCS (Edinburgh, UNITED KINGDOM) - September 16-18, 2010.

Calgary International Film Festival (Calgary, Alberta, CANADA) - September 24-October 3, 2010.

International Student Film Festival Pisek (Pisek, CZECH REPUBLIC) - September 30-October 2, 2010.

Duke City DocFest (Albuquerque, NM) - October 10-15, 2010.

DOCSDF (Mexico City, MEXICO) - October 21-31, 2010.

Red Rock Film Festival of Zion Canyon (Springdale, UT) - November 11-14, 2010

• Mark Kendall's website
  http://www.markkendallportfolio.com/
• The Time Machine website
  http://thetimemachinefilm.wordpress.com/
• The Time Machine on Facebook
  http://www.facebook.com/thetimemachinefilm
• New Project: La Camioneta Film
  http://lacamionetafilm.wordpress.com/
• La Camioneta Film on Facebook
  http://www.facebook.com/lacamionetafilm

Interview with Mark Kendall.

t21: What inspired you to make The Time Machine?
MK: Actually, it was an assignment for my first semester directing class at SVA - we all had to make a film about a process. My motivation for the particular story about Wil and his work in Grand Central was that it offered an opportunity to explore a process that is rich with visual metaphors - the craftsmanship of his work, the odd location of his shop, and the beautiful space within Grand Central's main concourse. Some of the way I went about telling the story visually was inspired by Godfrey Reggio's work in the Qatsi trilogy. Having recently moved to New York from a much more slow-paced life in Nashville, I think there was also a part of me that felt the need to speak out against all the rushing around.

t21: Biggest obstacle in making it?
MK: I had a tough time securing a location for the interview. Originally, I had wanted to sit down with Wil inside the Mercury Clock that faces out onto Park Avenue. The face of the clock is actually a big stained glass window and, during certain hours of the day, lots of beautiful light pours through into the clock room behind it where the mechanism for the clock is housed. In the end it just wasn't feasible to get access to that space because of the ongoing construction in the adjacent room. Facing an approaching deadline, I began thinking of other interesting backdrops and decided that, given the conversation I was hoping to have with him about time, it would be best to sit down with an almost bird's-eye view of the main concourse. That way, if he referred to the madness of the floor below or the beauty of the ceiling above he could gesture towards them both and make for a smoother edit in the cutting room. Most of that patio is owned by the Michael Jordan Steakhouse, but it turns out that there's a small space at the end that Metro North still owns, so I was able to get access up there to shoot. Aside from that, the biggest obstacle was getting enough sleep!

t21: What do you hope people get out of the film when they watch it?
MK: I think everyone will probably take away something different, which is totally cool. But I think if there's anything I hope people take away from the film it's the idea that only when the clock stops does time come to life. I also hope it makes people question their relationship to their clock, their cellphone, and their daily commute. My dream for the film is to one day screen it in Grand Central for free and let all the folks who work there be able to come and watch it on a big screen in one of the large rooms next to the main concourse. I think that would be a great way to celebrate the place and the people who give it life each day.

t21: A topic you aspire to create a film about?
MK: Saint Cecilia

t21: Whom would you love to work with?
MK: Fernando Birri - a wise man with the guts to speak out in protest, the vision to dream a new way, and the intellectual capacity to theorize and inspire others.

t21: Personal motto?
MK: Follow your nose – nothing speaks like intuition.

t21: Favorite hour of the day?
MK: I'm usually a night owl, so 1:00 a.m. is usually the time when I get a second wind and feel most in my element.

t21: First website you check?
MK: No contest, definitely my gmail account. I'm totally hooked.

t21: What's it like to be a student? If you’ve already graduated, what was the best part of being a film/ journalism student?
MK: It's great - you have the chance to learn from people whose work you have admired for a long time, you have the freedom to take chances and risks in your work, and you're able to collaborate with and learn from your classmates without having to have a huge budget to offer. Everyone's there to learn and for the experience of trying something new, which is not always the case in the professional world.

t21: Favorite city or landmark?
MK: That's really tough. Before moving to New York I spent the past eight years living in Nashville, TN and that's definitely a place that will always mean a lot to me.

t21: Favorite public figure?
MK: I'm a big fan of Khalil Gibran, although I'm not sure if that's exactly what you're asking. Favorite celebrity? Jon Stewart.

t21: The biggest global problem today?
MK: Seriously? That's probably a much longer conversation...

t21: Last meal you made?
MK: Breakfast tacos.

t21: Coffee, tea or water?
MK: Coffee.

t21: Boat, plane or train?
MK: Train.

t21: Latest obsession? (activity, cultural, food)
MK: Guatemalan beans.

t21: Favorite documentary?
MK: Can't say I have a favorite, but Salesman and Burden of Dreams are two of the films that I was exposed to early on that really grabbed me and made me want to continue on this path.

t21: Source of inspiration?
MK: That feeling that you get after you come back from traveling.

t21: Ten-year goal?
MK: I think my ten-year goal is to figure out how to make a living making films. If I can figure that out, I think the rest will fall into place.

t21: What's next?
MK: I'm in Guatemala right now in production on my thesis film about the “afterlife” of American school buses. So far I've got about 250 hours of footage, so I guess what's next is to start crafting a story out of it when I get back to New York in mid-September. After that, the door is open...

t21: Your question for us (t21)?
MK: Best spot for live music in Brooklyn?

t21: Catching concerts on Brooklyn Rooftops is definitely the best. But Prospect Park, Coney Island, Fort Greene Park, & Galapagos are pretty great too.

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