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Barrett Burgin, center, works with actors Reese Phillip Purser, left, and Steven J. Rowe on the salt flats. 

Courtesy John Newton, BYU

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Barrett Burgin, right, and actor Reese Phillip Purser walk out onto the Bonneville Salt Flats. 

Courtesy Ariela Moran Councill, BYU

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Barrett Burgin, center, works on the “Father of Man” set with 2nd assistant director Christena Taylor, left, and director of photography Weber Griffiths.

Courtesy Colton Elzey, BYU

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From left, 1st assistant director Luis Fernando Puente, John Newton, Barrett Burgin and director of photography Weber Griffiths discuss a shot on the Bonneville Salt Flats near Tooele. 

Courtesy Lindsey Bell, BYU

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As directing student Barrett Burgin contemplated ideas he could pitch for his BYU media arts capstone film, he found himself being pulled in a direction he didn’t expect.

Burgin had long been interested in directing thrillers and telling stories with a dark psychological element — especially narratives which pull from local culture and lore –but this time around he felt inspiration coming from an even more personal influence: his own faith.

”Father of Man” follows Boyd, a man who passes into the next life, leaving behind a complicated relationship with his estranged son. Upon arriving on the other side, Boyd is recruited to try to guide his son away from leaving his wife and unborn child.

“It’s a family drama set in a world with Latter-day Saint aesthetics and imagery, but it’s not a religious film,” Burgin said. “This is a universal human story set within a context that is personal to me.”

Burgin was interested in telling a story where elements of faith and doctrine are a part of the world, but are not thematically overt or central to the enjoyment of the film. There are no specific references to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or even to God, but the student filmmakers also didn’t shy away from the undeniable influence their beliefs have on their art and their lives.

“I felt like there was a guiding hand on this project,” Burgin said. “It gave me a sense of confidence that, one, it’s not all up to me, and two, it’s not all because of me.”

While Burgin knew what he wanted to accomplish with the film throughout production — which included a shooting day on the salt flats, evoking the scriptural idea of the Earth becoming “like a sea of glass” in the crew’s depiction of the afterlife — he felt intimidated to tackle a project that was potentially off-putting in subject matter to both religious and nonreligious audiences if handled carelessly.

“Your best story is going to be the story that scares you,” Burgin said. “I hope I will never make a choice based on fear of what other people are going to think about me. I took a personal risk and tried something, and I think people ultimately responded well because of that.”

The film premiered in September and continues to reach diverse audiences across the country at competitions and festivals. Burgin hopes to encourage and support more Latter-day Saint and other faith-based cinema that can touch, inspire or simply entertain audiences of all beliefs without preaching, but also without ignoring the identity of the filmmaker.

“I think all people are endeared to a story that shows true conflict, true problems and true mistakes,” Burgin said. “I don’t want to overlook the interesting aspects of our faith traditions and the ways they inspire me. It’s a good time to be authentic.”

Read more about the film at http://tma.byu.edu.