With a title that conjures up a science-fiction adventure, viewers of the short documentary The Time Machine might be surprised by what they see. Mark Kendall, a student in the MFA Social Documentary Film Department, has crafted a subtle and insightful portrait of Wil Alvarez, who came to the U.S. from Honduras 11 years ago and now works as a watchmaker in New York City’s Grand Central Station.

Kendall has been submitting the 10-minute film to festivals around the country, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive: The Time Machine will be showing at the Arizona International Film Festival, April 15 – 25; the Nashville Film Festival, April 15 – 22; On Location: Memphis, April 22 – 25; the West Chester Film Festival, April 22 – 25; and the Talking Pictures Festival in Evanston, Illinois, May 6 – 9.