When I Was There

When I Was There is an experimental short film that explores the homes we grow up in, the people that once inhabited those spaces, and who we become through time. The film examines stages in a family’s life, and the process of a parent’s letting go of their child as he comes of age.

Writer and Director: Antonio Salume
Director of Photography: Robert E. Newman
Editor: Sylvan Gu
Scorer: Mateo Nossa
Cast: Lorena Matus, Kurt Grube, Robbie Crandall, Jordan P. Schroeder, and John Racioppo
Producers: Alex M. Kennedy, Laila Núñez, and Antonio Salume
Production Designers: Marlene Cruz and Morgan Cunning
Sound Designer: Michael Odmark
Color: Oliver Eid
Assistant Director: Juan Pedro Ocampo
Line Producer: Homar Paez
1st Assistant Camera: Celeste Perlez
2nd Assistant Camera: Eva Joti
Gaffer: Omar Nasr
Key Grip: Ronan Daly
Best Boy: Andy Yu
Grip: Gabe Murray
Sound Mixer / Boom Operator: Kristal Salazar
Makeup: Lily Li
Script Supervisor: Shayan Farooq

When I Was There is the culmination of my time at film school. The film’s idea came during a time of reflection about the journey behind me and the one forming ahead. Inspired through my own experiences, I attempted to make a film about a boy who comes of age, but along the way, I discovered that such a story had another side – a parent’s letting go.

Although I can only imagine what the experience of parenthood is like, this short film is a love letter to the humans who raised me and to all parents out there. It is a contemplation of the everyday, the ordinary, and the beauty in the mundane. To me, it is about the nothingness that could mean everything. With it, I seek to explore the homes we grow up in, the people that once inhabited those spaces, and who we become through time.

My hope for this film is that it connects viewers to their families, their homes, and their growing up experiences. I hope watching this film makes them call (or meet with) their mother, their father, their friend, their grandma – I hope they say “thank you” to someone dear to them.