Gerald Feil

Gerald Feil  studied drama at Antioch College, a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he became close friends with Rod Serling , creator of The Twilight Zone . Upon completion of his studies, he was in charge of lighting several Broadway plays, including “Traveler Without Luggage,” starring Ben Gazzara , in 1964.

In cinema,  Gerald Feil  worked as a cinematographer in the field of horror, with He Knows You’re Alone , Friday the 13th Part 3  and  Bloody Madness . He also directed the action film Wild Dawn , starring George Kennedy , and the documentary Let’s Spend the Night Together , which shows a concert by The Rolling Stones in the United States.

Peter Brook signed him to shoot Lord of the Flies (1963), an adaptation of the famous novel by William Golding . “He was very involved in all the preparation of the film,” said Brook, director and screenwriter of this work. “I asked him to handle the second camera, with complete freedom to follow whichever actor he wanted. I stayed with the main camera, carefully framing the shots according to my own vision of the story and my own pictorial values.” 

“When we got to editing, I was fascinated to find that Gerry’s camera point of view was often better than mine,” concludes Brook. “I realized that the director can be counteracted by a point of view that is free from tyranny. Later I learned that Renoir had once said to Matisse: ‘When I have arranged a bouquet to paint it, I always turn it around and paint the side I didn’t plan for.” I understand”.

Gerald Feil later  directed The Empty Space (1973), a documentary about Brook’s work as head of the International Theater Company, his experimental theater company. At the end of his career, he served as a professor in the Department of Film at New York University.

He was survived by his wife, Hila, a children’s book author, and Anna, their daughter.