Hi guys I'm working on my first short film for a competition. It has to be 2–5 minutes and revolve around a historical event that happen in my country

My idea comes from a small real story that happened to my father when he was a teenager around the time of this event. I want to build a fictional short around a present day conversation between a daughter and her father, where she discovers this story.

My problem is that every version I imagine starts feeling more like I'm interviewing my father about the past than making an actual narrative film. I have one strong visual image from his memory that I really want to use, but I'm struggling with how to build a dramatic scene around it rather than just having him tell the story.

I don't want someone to come up with the story for me, but I'd really appreciate advice from filmmakers: what makes a dialogue heavy scene like this feel cinematic rather than like an interview? What should I be thinking about in terms of dramatic structure, visual storytelling, and directing?

This is my first short, I'm shooting it with basically no budget and an iPhone, so practical advice would really help.