VISITOR

DIRECTOR
WRITER
PRODUCER
EDITOR






I am a little dried fish at the bottom of the ocean

Shriveled, coiled, cold
In pain
Cannot flicker a muscle
Tense
Immobilized under the pressure
Not letting the moisture in

My jaw is locked
Every bit of me, inside and out, is as tight as a string
Trying, with every last fiber of my being, 
to keep my form and my dryness

What for?








After receiving an emotional e-mail from his estranged father, an Eastern European
gay immigrant cruises the internet in hopes of finding solace in a casual BDSM
hookup, just to find way more than he initially expected.








DIRECTOR STATEMENT





The heart of Visitor stems from my own life. At the time I was creating the film, my relationship with my father was strained. This led me to ask: What if I could receive my father’s unconditional love? What would that look like? To explore these questions, I fictionalized myself and wrote Visitor.

The primary creative inspiration came from the classic story of the prodigal son,
a symbol of a father’s unconditional love. I made that the centerpiece, though this film flips the parable: the father returns to ask for his son’s love back, to show love that’s unconditional. I also took Rembrandt’s painting, “The Return of the Prodigal Son,” as a thematic and visual anchor for the film. From the picture, we developed the color pallet, lighting, and wardrobe.

Creating Visitor was an incredible experience, despite its origins in a painful place. Though my blood family isn’t here with me, this project reminded me that I’ve built a second family—one that supports me both in filmmaking and in life.