An initiative of the
Breathless. A Documentary Film Project /
Vùng biên giới. A Theatre Project with Rimini Protokoll /
rádio d-cz. A Radio Art Project /
Vùng biên giới. A Theatre Project with Rimini Protokoll /
rádio d-cz. A Radio Art Project /
Time's Up
by Marie-Catherine Theiler & Jan Peters (GER, 2009, 15 min)
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Camera: Marcus Winterbauer, Berlin, Jan Peters, Marie-Catherine Theiler, Berlin
Sound: Johannes Grehl, Berlin
Music: Pit Przygodda, Berlin
Sound designer: Thies Mynther, Berlin
Editor: Sandra Trostel, Hamburg
Protagonists: Jan Peters, Marie-Catherine Theiler, Prof. Dr. Karlheinz A. Geißler (time researcher), Ulrich Mückenberger (time researcher), George Pennington (former vice-president of the German Society for Humanist Psychology), Regula Corsten (trainer for office organization, time and knowledge management), Jens Risch (artist)
Shooting format: Super 8, DVCam, digital AVI files
Production: Stefan Kloos / Kloos & Co. Medien GmbH; Jan Peters
The two filmmakers depart Berlin in a rental car bearing a harmless voucher for a stay at the Hotel Belvédère near the Rhone glacier in the Swiss Alps. They feel themselves to be under great time pressure and organizational stress. Shortly before arriving at their destination, the wheels of their car lose contact with the narrow, winding mountain road. As the car rotates repeatedly on its own axel, the two passengers experience an elongation, a slowing of time. The hustle and bustle, the haste of the entire trip is replaced by calm composure as the vehicle skids across the asphalt – a few seconds extend into eternity. The two filmmakers find themselves in the car resting against a crash barrier – in shock but unharmed.
Back in Berlin, they remain in the grip of the shift in their own perception of time. Everything appears in a new light: the hectic nature of daily life with its chronically short days, overlong “To Do” lists, chasing down of appointments, piles of unanswered e-mails, the permanent presence of the mobile phone, the worried glance at a wristwatch. When Marie-Catherine realizes she is pregnant, she and Jan use the following nine months as the timeframe for a self-experiment, a quest to deal with time and its effects in a new way. With themselves as subjects, the film accompanies its makers as they attend time management workshops and slow-down rest cures; interview time researchers, physicists and artists; or compare urban and rural life. By casting a personal and intimate look upon everyday life, the filmmakers unearth societal tendencies while maintaining their humour and a sharp eye for self-irony.
Marie Catherine Theiler and Jan Peters often use the author-narrator approach in the form of an autobiographical diary. Their focus is always on direct experience, on the spontaneous character of filmed situations. TIME´S UP – AN EXPERIMENT IN TIME MANAGEMENT is a first-time collaboration for these two filmmakers on such a lengthy project.
Directors’ comment:
“We have chosen a highly personalized form for our film – to better reach others and touch them emotionally. We are hardly alone in the questions we ask. In today’s society, time has become money. People feel increasingly pressured, longing to return to an era when clocks ticked differently. Such an era was not that long ago...”
Mentor’s note:
“Marie-Catherine Theiler and Jan Peters fascinate their audience with the matter-of-fact like choice of their technologies, because, apparently, they only use the ways and means amateurs would fall back on. I am very pleased with the joint and strictly artistic approach both filmmakers take: that of the pregnant Marie-Catherine and that of Jan, the master of the first person perspective, who both film each other. This joint documentary film that satirizes the means of filmmaking at the same time with its honesty will provoke and enthuse audiences of any age.” (Peter Badel, d.o.p., Germany)
MARIE-CATHERINE THEILER
Born 1976 in Luzern, CH. Studied Theater and Journalism at University of Bern and Fribourg, as well as film at ESBA – University of Fine Arts, Geneva, professors Claudio Pazienza and Jean-Louis Comolli. Worked as assistant lecturer, actor and assistant director in theatres and as film director. 2008 Grant for a Berlin residence from Kulturkommission Zentralschweiz.
Filmography:
2 oder 3 Versuche, eine Idee umzusetzen (2008)
Mit Chutteli, Brisagostumpen und Treichel (2008)
Roadmovie (2007)
Wie ich besonders wertvoll wurde (2007)
Le temps suspendu (2007)
Il barbiere (2005)
Ein Wald der Skulpturen (2005)
Lolita (2004)
Goulag (2004)
Stop it! (2003)
Le dimanche de M. le Comte (2002)
JAN PETERS
Born in Hannover in 1966. Studied at Hamburg Art Institut HfbK. Co-founded the filmmakers group ABBILDUNGSZENTRUM in 1994. Besides award-winning short and feature films such as “How I Became a Cave Painter” or “How I Became a Freelance Tour Guide” Jan Peters also creates radiophonic plays and participates in art exhibitions. Lives and works in Berlin.
Filmography:
2 oder 3 Versuche, eine Idee umzusetzen (2008)
Roadmovie (2007)
Wie ich besonders wertvoll wurde (2007)
Wie ich ein freier Reisebegleiter wurde (2007)
Aber den Sinn des Lebens hab’ ich immer noch nicht rausgefunden (1990-2006)
13 oder 14 (2004)
Bye Bye Tiger (2004)
Wie ich ein Höhlenmaler wurde (2001)
Ich bin 33 (2000)
Dezember (1999)
November (1998)
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