GP brings human cloning to life in short film

THE darker side of medical advances will be up for discussion at this weekend’s Doc-Art Festival, with the special screening of the short film, Mr Morag’s Helical Dreams.

The 15-minute film was written, produced and directed by Adelaide GP Dr Alex Nakone and explores the concept of human cloning for therapeutical purposes. It follows the strange case of Mr Morag, a man whose subconscious mind is vexed after he choose to accept a kidney from his clone.

“The area of cloning is no longer just a fantasy, it is a scientific reality. I find it incredibly challenging, and fertile ground for creative thinking,” Dr Nakone said.

Mr Morag has already received critical acclaim from Internet reviewers for its special effects and dark atmosphere. However, Dr Nakone is quick to point out that he had significant help in this department from another South Australian GP, Dr John Williams, who composed the entire score.

“[Dr Williams] spent hours and hours on this, and it was six or seven months before we had the right score,” he notes.

Dr Nakone himself has been a filmmaker for many years, with his last film Biotech 8 winning praise at numerous film festivals, including Melbourne Underground Film Festival and the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Filmmaking has been a long-standing passion for Dr Nakone – he deferred part of his medical degree to learn about film production, and even began a film and video production company in the early 1990s.

When he eventually returned to medicine and completed his degree, he found he wasn’t able to fully let go of his creative pursuits, and continued to teach himself to use digital editing and special effects programs.

The film is one of three to will be screened in addition to the Doc-Art competition entries. According to Dr Tony Chu, president of the Creative Doctors Network, the idea is to highlight the achievements of doctors in one particular field.

“The festival is all about doctors being creative, and I was very impressed with Dr Nakone’s work when I last saw it,” Dr Chu said. “He did everything in this short film – writing, directing, producing, the special effects... It really shows just what creative doctors can do.”