Filmmaker Statement

When I was five, I told my parents that I would never have children of my own — a notion that stayed with me for decades. Shimmer was born from imagining the kind of father I might become: not evil, just a man who resented fatherhood and escaped into his work. The story took a different turn when my own father began to fade into dementia. Daughter Lucía became my way of dealing with the guilt and helplessness I felt as his mind deteriorated. I wanted to create two characters locked in conflict who were willing to risk everything for what they desired, only to regret the cost once they’d achieved their goals. It’s about a father and a daughter who yearn for each other’s closeness but have too little grace for one another to meet in the middle. Making the film was transformative. Right after its first screening for the crew, I learned that I was going to become a father. I’m still surprised to this day by how easy it was to say yes to something that I’d been opposed to for so long.