MORFI (2025)
For two years, Louisa Vergozisi films her father Vangelis, who lives alone in Morfi, a small place in Greece where she grew up before moving to the Netherlands. It is also the place where they once lived together as a happy family.
Vangelis, an apple farmer who inherited his work from his father, remains deeply connected to the land, even as it becomes increasingly difficult to sustain. Faced with extreme heat, unpredictable hailstorms and failed harvests, he confronts the growing challenges of climate change and the absence of government support. Beyond the apple fields, he quietly carries the daily weight of his solitary life: cooking, tending the house and doing the laundry, in a rhythm that mirrors the seasons around him.
Throughout this film, the relationship between father and daughter unfolds, along with their shared bond to the land that shaped his life. Morfiis an intimate portrait of resilience, memory and the quiet ties between people and place.
Directed filmed and edited by Louisa Vergozisi
Music by Simon Doesborgh
Coaching by Ruud Lenssen
Color grading and sound design by Rico Derks
Poster design by Studio Denk
With the support of CineSud and We Are Today
Column by Marco Van Kampen in newspaper De Limburger (translated from the Dutch)
The extraordinary story behind ordinary things
I recently went to see a short documentary, made by my colleague and friend L., at the cinema in Sittard. On the big screen, a full theater watched a sober sketch of the life of her own father, an apple farmer in a small Greek village where time seemed to have stood still.
On the surface, we saw a simple man who stoically went through his daily routine. Picking apples, going to the market, cooking his meals, petting the cat, having a drink, singing a song in the car. Beneath those ingrained routines, however, lay a moving chronicle of life choices, the love of and for his daughter, pride and disappointment, identity, the clash between the traditional and the modern world, stifled ambitions, and the bitter need to be seen. With remarkably few words, the documentary managed to capture the extraordinary in the ordinary.
Two days later, I visited my own parents in Terelen. Mom was in the kitchen making Sunday soup. Dad was, as is often the case, pottering around in the shed. In the front yard, the last blooming flowers with their bright colors created the illusion that it was still a little bit summer. At the table, we discussed the week while enjoying sauerkraut stew with meatballs. These were ordinary things. Everyday matters.
But as I drove home, I decided that it had actually been quite special.
On the surface, we saw a simple man who stoically went through his daily routine. Picking apples, going to the market, cooking his meals, petting the cat, having a drink, singing a song in the car. Beneath those ingrained routines, however, lay a moving chronicle of life choices, the love of and for his daughter, pride and disappointment, identity, the clash between the traditional and the modern world, stifled ambitions, and the bitter need to be seen. With remarkably few words, the documentary managed to capture the extraordinary in the ordinary.
Two days later, I visited my own parents in Terelen. Mom was in the kitchen making Sunday soup. Dad was, as is often the case, pottering around in the shed. In the front yard, the last blooming flowers with their bright colors created the illusion that it was still a little bit summer. At the table, we discussed the week while enjoying sauerkraut stew with meatballs. These were ordinary things. Everyday matters.
But as I drove home, I decided that it had actually been quite special.
Morfi - Filmstill
Morfi - Filmstill
Morfi - Filmstill
Morfi - Filmstill
Morfi - Filmstill
Morfi - Filmstill
Morfi - Filmstill
Morfi - Filmstill
Morfi - Filmstill
Morfi at DOCDAYS 2025 by CineSud in Filmhuis ZICHT, Sittard, NL