Director's Statement

I find magic in the extraordinary that masquerades as the ordinary. That is perhaps why I am fascinated by the photographs of Minor White. Through a subtle interplay of lighting and composition, he invariably elevates such seemingly common subjects as barns, doorways, clouds, paint peeling, and frost paisleys on a window pane, to the level of an extraordinary aesthetic beauty. Naturally, his photographs also reveal something very intimate and personal about him—they reveal how he viewed the world. He did not take anything for granted at a superficial level, but rather made himself keenly aware of alternate and unique perspectives that are no less valid. "The state of mind of a photographer while creating is a blank," he once said. "It is a very active state of mind really, a very receptive state of mind, ready at an instant to grasp an image, yet with no image pre-formed in it at any time...Such a state of mind is not unlike a sheet of film itself—seemingly inert, yet so sensitive that a fraction of a second’s exposure conceives a life in it."

Fate Scores was borne out of my experiences observing ordinary people interact in an impersonal urban environment. One can witness a wealth of human drama everyday at a place so mundane as a public bench, but only if one is willing to be receptive. The experiences along a uniquely personal journey shape each one of us; a journey that defies the superficial categorizations of race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and class. When people with such diverse journeys converge, human drama erupts.

There is a moment in Fate Scores when two strangers form a fleeting emotional connection without ever exchanging a word. The younger woman, seeing that the older woman has dropped her keys, kindly goes over and picks them up for her. At the moment the keys change hands, the two women instantly realize a shared sense of loss. In a random act, a chance connection, both women also find comfort when their eyes meet.

In the making of Fate Scores, I worked with each of the actors to develop vibrant and truthful characters who strongly reflect their own personal journeys. I am grateful the actors had the courage to permit us glimpses into their heart of hearts. I also decided to make Fate Scores a silent film accompanied by an original musical score because it is often not words that matter most but rather the emotions and body language behind them. Watching the film, one can imagine every word the characters are saying.

I made Fate Scores to emphasize the importance of remaining open to the magic of seemingly random interactions that occur around us. Even at times of despair amidst the urban chaos of strangers, concrete, and deadlines, it is the very magic of seemingly random interactions that can instill a sense of hope when least expected. Each person we encounter contributes in the very least a small, yet vital experience along our ever progressing journey, allowing us to arrive into our own.

—Albert M. Chan

Story Synopsis

Fate Scores explores themes of isolation, connection, and chance. Two strangers—a guitarist (Albert M. Chan) and an introspective young woman (Heidi Rhodes)—cross paths at an empty concrete bench. One by one, additional strangers join the pair on the bench—a distressed woman in a foot cast (Mary Niederkorn), an insecure jogger (Jonathan Vittum), a famished pregnant woman (Angela Gunn), an anxious businessman at lunch (Brian D. Evans), a curious child with an ice cream cone (Ben Katz), two quarrelsome women (Kandace Cummings and Katarina Morhacova), and a dignified collector of soda cans (Roxanne Y. Morse). Whereas the young woman discreetly observes the whirlwind of interactions between the strangers, the guitarist remains completely engrossed in fixing his broken guitar string. Despite their differing reactions to the activity at the bench, the guitarist and the young woman eventually discover they have something special in common.