We interviewed Meital Zvieli and Itamar Alcalay, directors of the poignant and skilfully crafted The Camera of Doctor Morris, which took home the Best Israeli Film Award at Docaviv 2022.
Winner at this year’s Docaviv (May 26th – June 5th, 2022) in the Israeli Competition, The Camera of Doctor Morris is a powerful and poignant film crafted with sensitivy and flair by Itamar Alcalay and Meital Zvieli.
An eccentric pilot in the British Armed Forces and his young wife flee a devastated post-WWII Europe and arrive in Eilat, the newly-founded Israel’s southernmost town. Situated at the intersection of Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, Eilat was home primarily to soldiers, port workers, and released prisoners. Then the Morris Family came to town. In their own secluded paradise, they begin to build their unconventional lives. They set up a British bubble and raise their children in the heart of the desert, all the while keeping deadly crocodiles as family pets. When a mysterious accident leads to an orphaned young girl, the family confronts a loved but forgotten ghost. Decades later, a treasure of dozens of 8mm reels – all of film captured by Dr. Morris – are uncovered hidden away in the home the family once shared. Through the archives of fully lived and filmed lives, combined with recounting from Morris family members themselves, their unusual and absorbing story unfolds.
We were delighted to chat with directors Itamar Alcalay and Meital Zvieli, about the making of this powerful film.
“We were deeply touched by Dr. Morris’ point of view of his family, how much beauty he found in them and the love and warmth in which he filmed them.”
Can you describe your encounter with Dr. Morris through his own footage? How much did his tapes tell you about his personality and mindset?
Meital Zvieli & Itamar Alcalay: When the Morris family opened for us the closet where Dr. Morris 8 mm Films was stored four years ago, we were amazed by how carefully they were arranged and cataloged alongside all his filming and editing equipment. We felt at that moment that Dr. Morris was not only a pilot and a doctor, we had discovered in this closet a filmmaker. A true miracle had happened to us. When we started watching the reels, not only we got full confirmation that it is an archive of a great filmmaker but we also discovered the whole story of the family for the first time. It was only then that we became acquainted with the eldest daughter Aviva who had Down Syndrome and we realized that Dolly was actually adopted. We were immediately drawn to this story but it was too soon to know for sure that this will be the main plot of our film. We were deeply touched by Dr. Morris’ point of view of his family, how much beauty he found in them and the love and warmth in which he filmed them. We were impressed by the freedom in which he filmed the home he built with his wife Fay in Eilat and in every place he traveled in around the world. We were amazed by his rare ability to film a perfect scene in which there is a distinct favorite, a distinct point of view and a steady and confident hand. After serving on the Japanese front in WWII Dr. Morris sought his own paradise and found it in the beautiful bay of Eilat on the border of Israel, Jordan and Egypt. He then started filming it exactly as he lived, in its full capacity.
How did you make those tapes yours?
Meital Zvieli & Itamar Alcalay: As soon as the Morris family revealed to us their father’s personal archive, we asked them with all due care to take the reels and turn them into a documentary film. Fortunately, the Morris family immediately trusted us. They joined our desire to save the materials and complete the creation of their fathers’ film. We bought two large suitcases right away and drove all the way from Eilat to Tel Aviv with the precious treasure in the back seat of our car. We tested a number of labs until we found the best lab that would convert the materials to digital format in order to preserve them and that we could start editing.
How did you find and maintain your distance with the footage and Dr. Morris’ family?
Meital Zvieli & Itamar Alcalay: After converting all the long hours of reels filmed by Dr. Morris and watching them for days, the final realization became clear to us that we had acquired an extraordinary treasure, and to be honest we were completely overwhelmed. We felt that a deep intimacy had been created between us and the family members and that we should start a process where we would dive into the materials and have long conversations with each member of the family in order to create the right connection between each one’s memory and their father’s rare films. We knew it would take time and we were fortunate that both the Morris family and the film’s supporters were very patient and let us delve into the story of the Morris family and Dr. Morris’s epic archive, his wife Fay and his children Uni, Andrew and Dolly’s memories for 4 years until we felt we had the film in our hands.
What sets this family apart? And what does this family’s story have to say to the world
Meital Zvieli & Itamar Alcalay: We feel the Morris family is extraordinary. After fighting as a pilot and a doctor in WWII, Dr. Morris meets Fay, a young vital and promising young woman and they decide to seek out their own paradise on earth. They drove their car from England to Eilat, the most remote city in Israel and establish a family that, like any family, faces happiness and tragic ups and downs, but they do so in a way full of joy and talk about it in an uncompromising sincerity mixed with a fine British humor. They know how to face their pain and rebuild themselves, never give in to it and all along Dr. Morris documented them with his rare talent.
What kind of feedback have you received following the premiere of the film?
Meital Zvieli & Itamar Alcalay: The premiere at the Docaviv Festival exceeded all our expectations. It was important to us to invite first of all the Morris family and their friends who were joined by our family members, our friends and colleagues so that we could all celebrate the Morris family and their inspiring story. We were amazed at how engaged the audience was in the film from start to finish. They all laughed and cried right where we laughed and cried over and over while editing. They felt that the film raises a lot of emotions and questions and that it has a healing dimension just as we felt when we edited it at home among our own during the family’s corona plague that raged outside. Since then, we have continued to screen it throughout Israel and we are so happy and grateful the film is getting so much love from its viewers and the reactions are intensifying.
Acknowledgements: Meital Zvieli, Itamar Alcalay, Julia Mann, Mirjam Wiekenkamp (NOISE Film & TV).
