JIGSAW – KEYHOLE OF TIME

Documentary program, titled “A Keyhole of Time”, was screened and Flahertiana International Film Festival. It's devoted to amateur footage, filmed in 1940-80th of the last century.

This year there are two feature documentaries: “The Camera of Doctor Morris” (Israel) and “Private Footage” (Brazil). They are two visual novels that deal differently with the deceitfulness and illusory authenticity of amateur filming.

Here we need to start from afar, use, if you like, a vignette of thought – and think about cinematic language. A magical language which laws are not easy to formulate – because here we are immersed in the miracle of film genesis, in the realm of philosophy. Only few authors in the last and present centuries mastered this language, but these few created its syntax and grammar. The simplest examples lie on the surface: Chabrol and Hitchcock, Dziga Vertov, Khutsiev and David Lynch – a number of names to be continued. Nowadays visual “chatter” is perfectly usual. We conducted a research for our program in order to collect an exposition of cinephile samples, unfinished sketches, sloppy film essays. We're tracking down the film language luck.

Yes, the curators of Keyhole of Time program are looking for shooting revelations.

And the directors of the documentary “The Camera of Doctor Morris” - Itamar Alcalay, Meital Zvieli – found the cinema treasures, when they faced the 8mm reels with the images, shot by Dr. Morris in Israel during 30 years in 1950-80th.

For decades, Dr. Morris filmed his family. Their lives were captured on 8mm - years of joys, tragedies, and quiet days spent in the Israeli desert heat. After his death, the footage is rediscovered, uncovering a family story of a mysterious accident, orphaned girl, and a forgotten loved one. Through the archives of fully lived lives, combined with recounting from Morris family members themselves, their unusual and absorbing story unfolds.

The value of amateur footage is unusually increasing. This is History not

composed, not constructed by professionals (cinema or propaganda) – this is History in itself.

The director of “Private Footage” (Brazil) - Janaína Nagata – did an unpredictable investigation, «decoding» the amateur vacational images, filmed and edited in 1972.

Brazil, 2018. Driven by the impact of coming across a 16mm film whose uncanny images seemed familiar but came from far away, and were made long ago, the director decided to investigate the origins of this footage and faced with complicated political issues and tragedies of the time.

Most of us remember the classical images of Feeding Baby – filmed more than 100 years ago…It would seem there's no point to document the feeding of a baby. They never want to eat. But this is not a decoy, and together with this baby we fall into the Porridge of History and, at will, we can drown in it, or swim out.