Mr. Cortisone, Happy Days
"A brave work of art about human existence, painful at times humorous ... a must see."
Le Monde
"Challenges the definition of first-person film-making and redefines the borders of subjective documentary..."
Maariv
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Read StorylineThe three Darwish brothers, who immigrated from Iraq to Israel in the 50’s, established the family factory “Fantasia” - a menorah factory. For a time period of 50 years they designed, manufactured and shipped Chanukah menorahs for the entire world and now…the family factory is about to close down. From this point in time, the director, who is the son of the youngest brother, is starting to embark on a journey that unravels the history of his family, going back 100 years. The story weaves memories from Iraq and Israel - two homelands, two languages, two identities, two enemies. The director is trying to reconstruct the narrative of his family, a narrative that has disappeared in the silence and shame that followed the family move to Israel. The father’s silence is finally broken by the director’s relentless inquiries, which reveal a story about 5 lost years of his father in the Iraqi prison. It is a diary film shot over a period of 10 years.
Documentary | US, Israel | 2004
85 min
Hebrew, English
Subtitles: English
Directors: Shlomo Shir & Duki Dror
Producer: Duki Dror, Zygote Films Ltd.
Script: Shlomo Shir
Cinematography: Philippe Bellaiche
& Shlomo Shir
Editor: Dani Itzhaki
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Read StorylineThe three Darwish brothers, who immigrated from Iraq to Israel in the 50’s, established the family factory “Fantasia” - a menorah factory. For a time period of 50 years they designed, manufactured and shipped Chanukah menorahs for the entire world and now…the family factory is about to close down. From this point in time, the director, who is the son of the youngest brother, is starting to embark on a journey that unravels the history of his family, going back 100 years. The story weaves memories from Iraq and Israel - two homelands, two languages, two identities, two enemies. The director is trying to reconstruct the narrative of his family, a narrative that has disappeared in the silence and shame that followed the family move to Israel. The father’s silence is finally broken by the director’s relentless inquiries, which reveal a story about 5 lost years of his father in the Iraqi prison. It is a diary film shot over a period of 10 years.
In the summer of 2000, Shlomi Shir was an editing assistant for my documentary “My Fantasia”. One day he asked me to stay after work to look at footage he was shooting. He was an introverted young man with a long scar on his neck. I knew little about his illness and even less about his talent. I was stunned from the first frame I saw. It wasn’t only the incredibly unique aesthetics of the shots, or the powerful subjectivity of the camera – I was taken by the transformation of this low-key man into a charismatic actor who operates in-front and behind the camera. A virtuosic camera operation choreographed with hyper-realistic drama – all in total directorial control and in a perfect sync.
It was also apparent that the camera is a weapon as well as a filter for his fears. He asked me to be his producer. I didn’t understand why he should have a producer, when his work is so totally subjective, I thought that no one should get in between. Finally I agreed to run the production, with the condition that we keep it intimate with Shlomi being a one-man band. We started to edit the film in April 2002. It was a story about a man spending one week in segregation. The story was supposed to have a happy ending – Shlomi had a newborn girl, the treatment seemed to work.