Canada
Statement
Olivia and Madeleine Peters are a sister filmmaking duo originally hailing from Toronto, Canada. Olivia has directed and shot numerous projects ranging narrative, art and fashion. She approaches filmmaking in a meticulous way, through quiet and highly visual scripts complemented with non-linear editing. Olivia finds balance experimenting with a stylized color palette and harnessing naturally occurring light to shape her filmic worlds. Since graduating NYU Film last spring, Olivia has worked with Valentino, Prada, Balmain, H&M, Skyy Vodka, Patrick Church, and shot editorial films for Paper, V Magazine, and Harper’s Bazaar. Her directorial debut, “Ambivalence,” which she shot with the help of her sister, is currently in the festival circuit and set to premiere this July. Madeleine Peters is a director and electronic film composer. For the past 4 years, Madeleine has worked as a leading director of photography on the Vice Daily News show, and has travelled across the US and internationally to South Korea, Africa, The Philippines, Iceland, Denmark, and Greenland covering key political events and breaking news stories. A talented composer, Madeleine has scored and sound designed multiple film collaborations with her sister, Olivia. Together the sister’s work spans experimental and documentary. Their style uses an eclectic mixture of mediums to create unconventional pieces. Through texture and collage they explore time and question to what extent things exist in reality or are a distorted memory. In Summer 2015, the pair travelled to Latvia to create a film about their Grandmother, memory and genealogy. Last fall, their film “BLUE”, screened at the Nature Technology Art Exhibition in Brooklyn, NY. The sisters are currently in post for their experimental film, “Midnattsol”, shot in remote Lofoten, Norway. They are in the early stages for a feature based on their Grandmother’s life in WWII Latvia, and in pre-production for a documentary they hope to complete Spring 2020.
Profile
GlogauAIR resident from January 2020 to March 2020
GlogauAIR Project
CONCEPT
How does one visualize time? Is it a circle? A straight line? Does it bend, twist, break or jump?
How do the years pass in one’s mind? How are memories recollected? How does one store them – retrieve them? How can this visualization change or decay with age?
“ERA” aims to explore these extraordinary questions through a series of filmed interviews and vignettes across Berlin, with the future intentions of spanning the rest of the world and comparing visualizations globally.
RELEVANCE
The ultimate aim of the project is to start a societal conversation about time — to what extent does time exist, and to what extent is it a fictional invention in our minds. More so, it hopes to contrast the universal elements of time against one’s individual experience. How does one’s visualization of time impact how they live their life and look back on it?
FORM
In addition to interviews, the documentary will use a mixture of found archival footage, home videos, photographs, and experimental digital dramatizations of time. The film will unfold in three parts: Present, Reminiscence, and Future. The Present will analyze how the individual visualizes time in its current state, Reminiscence will focus on how the individual accesses memories, specific dates or moments. Future will explore what is left unsaid. Where will our society be in 10 years in the art of memory?
PROCESS
The project plans to interview a wide variety of subjects in Berlin over the course of 3 months, yet we do not want the documentary to feel staged in any way, rather a series of real people with opposing beliefs and ideologies.
We want to start a conversation.
From scientists, to artists, to mothers, to children, to the concept of time in those that are visually impaired, we want a range of voices, ages, culture, and overall points of view.
FINAL EXHIBITION
The documentary sets to have a rough runtime of 30 minutes and will be screened on a loop in a cumulative exhibition.
Participating individuals along with the public will be invited to step into a ‘dome’ as the film and immersive sound design projects around them – producing the ultimate reflection on time.
CV Summary
AS A FILMMAKING DUO
- 2019
- “Life Ball ” V Magazine x Lifeball Short, A series promoting the Life Charity Ball in Vienna. Directed and shot by Olivia Peters, Sound by Madeleine Peters
- “V Magazine 2019 Bombshells” Fashion Film, Directed and shot by Olivia Peters, Sound by Madeleine Peters
- 2018
- “Ambivalence” Narrative Short, A young girl, intent on joining a convent in rural Canada, becomes conflicted when she discovers a group of witches in the forest. Directed by Olivia Peters, Sound and Camera Operation by Madeleine Peters
- “BLUE” Experiential Short, An interactive experience spanning light, sound, and texture, participants are invited to delve into the sensory sanctuary of all encompassing emotions and forms of blue. Co-Directed and shot by Olivia and Madeleine Peters, Sound by Madeleine Peters
- “Midnattsol” Narrative Short, A church, an old friend, and the five elements tell the story of a Norwegian cove during the midnight sun. Co-Directed and shot by Olivia and Madeleine Peters, Sound by Madeleine Peters.
- 2017
- “Elderberry” Documentary Short, Two sisters embark on a journey to Riga, Latvia to discover more about their grandmother’s early life, as dementia takes over her past memories.
- “Harper’s Bazaar 20th Anniversary” Fashion Film, Directed and shot by Olivia Peters, Sound by Madeleine Peters
- 2016
- “The Bethlehem Sisters” Narrative Short, Two girls lose their friend to unexpected forces in the confines of their cabin on a winter night. Directed and shot by Olivia and Madeleine Peters, Sound by Madeleine Peters.
- “You Are Us” Experimental Documentary Short, Documenting Lexy Ho-Tai’s performance art collection”Monsters” in the forests of upstate New York. Co-Directed by Olivia and Madeleine Peters, Sound by Madeleine Peters
