Eyal Gamili is an international videographer, photographer, and multi-disciplinary artist of extraordinary ability. His work focuses on the conceptual creation and production of advanced promotional online videos for the food, jewelry, and beauty product industries.
Mr. Gamili created a tourism video series called The Story of Cuba whic recently won best cinematography of Venice Shorts.
Mr. Gamili received his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design in 2002 from the prestigious Bezalel Academy of Art & Design in Jerusalem. He since embarked on an extensive multi disciplinary artistic career in photography, videography, painting, and design. His work has been featured in numerous distinguished exhibitions and publications including the 2015 World Expo in Milan, Italy, and the leading fashion magazine, Italian Vogue.
Mr. Gamili has received important recognition for extraordinary achievement including winning the 2018 Creative Quarterly (The Journal of Art Design) 53 competition for professional photography. He received an Honorable Mention in LICC. It is our pleasure to interview Eyal Gamili.
What was the inspiration behind the making of your film?
My inspiration is people, and telling their very human stories of joy and pain, love and conflict, and showing the similarities that tie all of us together. My name is Eyal Gamili and I am a photo and video artist and founder of AbstractZen.com and Foo-food.com. I specialize in telling unique and compelling stories in pictures, video, and music. I created a tourism/documentary video that tells the very human story of Cuba so that the world can see the beauty I see in this beautiful country and its people. My inspiration is my drive to tell the story of all people. We are all so very different and yet all the same. So making this was a labor of love. Cuba touches my heart. The architecture. The people. The climate. The food. All of it is comprehensively amazing and alive. I wanted to create a video that tells the story of its magnificent beauty so that the world knows exactly how special and transformative a visit to Cuba can be.
What is the most challenging aspect of working in this genre as a dop and director?
The biggest challenge in documentary photography in exotic countries is the physical challenge. It's a very hard job for me physically and emotionally, from the morning until the light runs out. I am faced with physical challenges like terrain and extreme weather as well as personal fears, and a deep empathy for others who are less fortunate. All of it is worth it in the end. Their story is the story of humanity on this planet. So I never give up on myself and always strive to create everything as I have planned.
When did you realize that you wanted to work in media and make films and what was the first film project that you worked on?
I was always into photography. I have been photographing since the age of 16. I am not a very verbally expressive person, so my only option to express myself was in very visual ways. I feel more helpful and useful and expressive in the world when I go out to take pictures. I never write stories; I photograph them. They happen to me in front of the camera and it is my job to capture them at the moment they happen. One of my partners in creative tells me he is amazed when we capture something that he can’t put into words. He says that is when you know you have captured something truly special. So that is what I do. I try to tell the stories that words cannot.
How did you choose the cast and the crew of the film and what was the most interesting aspect of production?
The people in my videos are the people that happen to interact with me. Sometimes I direct them and interview them or just ask their opinion regarding their country. So it is very raw. I never know who will be part of it because I meet people in a very natural and organic kind of way. Amazingly, the right people arrive. I am capturing the truth, so I am capturing people as they are. And their stories—in words, songs, and actions—are better than anything I could ever write. And the film captures every single expressive and insightful moment.
What genre of filmmaking fascinates you as a director and which genres do you prefer to continue working on? I like to shoot tung and gun style, and especially documentary street style. Documentary portrays the truth in a very raw sense. There is something so honest about that raw humanity unscripted. But I feel comfortable in most styles of film. My job as a director is to tell their story. I just really prefer pictures to words. They often bring a richness that words alone cannot.
How can cinema change the world and have an impact on society?I think that my Web series "The Story of..." Is a mirror for our society. People are busy most of the time with their personal problems and forget about the troubles and hard lives of underprivileged populations around the world. The power of seeing the truth without filters is very transformative and can affect ways of thinking and even make people act. That’s an amazing kind of impact that is written in how we act every single day. I am lucky to be able to capture all of it and share it with the world.
What is your next film project?
We are currently in negotiations with a prominent and compelling country in the continent of Africa to develop a travel documentary highlighting their long and rich cultural heritage and their impact on the continent of Africa and the Middle East throughout history. I enjoy meeting people in different cultures, telling their stories in pictures and music, and portray the unique beauty that people can expect when they choose to visit. It is amazing to be able to share so much with so many.
The story of Cuba:
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