Ahead of the world premiere of his debut feature “Lucid” at the Edinburgh Film Festival on June 23, director Adam Morse publicly revealed that he was visually impaired – a fact that he ha also initially concealed from the film’s lead actor, Billy Zane (“Titanic,” “Back to the Future”). “Lucid” is a psychological thriller centred on a therapist (Zane) who advises a shy patient (Laurie Calver) to experiment with a little-known dream therapy to win over a woman (Felicity Gilbert).
After his eyesight suddenly deteriorated in 2009, the director now only has peripheral vision. Morse told Variety that he informed Zane and some of his crew about his condition after production on the film began. The director also did not tell at least one financier of his visual impairment.
“I didn’t want [the investors] to find out and then pull the plug on us,” he said. “I had that anxiety of being found out every time I went to a meeting with one of them.”
Describing his condition, Morse told The Guardian: “I started noticing, in the centre of my vision, there were some dots. Over that spring-summer of 2009, the dots in the middle of my vision began to get bigger and multiplied.”
Morse cannot read text and relies on screen-reader software. He said that his filmmaking was partially enabled by cinematographer Michel Dierickx. “We have this great working relationship,” Morse told The Guardian. “But when it comes to framing a shot, I’m actually able to do that myself...I have enough peripheral vision to get around, but also to appreciate an image on screen.”
Morse added that he hopes his film will inspire people to make their dreams real. “I’m not just talking about disabled people. I want everyone to believe in themselves and to realise that almost anything is possible,” he said.
Morse previously made a short film, “The Window” (2013). He is now about to wrap up the script of a dark comedy titled “China Blue,” which will go into production next year.
The article was first published in scroll.in and is being republished under special arrangement