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Petra

  • Mathilde Suissa
    Director
    Pauline, The Blue Room
  • Mathilde Suissa
    Writer
    Pauline, The Blue Room
  • Jennifer Liu
    Writer
  • Mathilde Suissa
    Producer
  • Jennifer Liu
    Producer
  • Camille Suissa
    Producer
    Headspace
  • Anthony Tino
    Producer
  • DaVonne Onassis Bacchus
    Key Cast
    "Petra"
    Law and Order SVU
  • Jennifer Liu
    Director of Photography
    Pauline, The Blue Room
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Drama, Short, Student, LGBTQ, 16mm Film, Queer, Queer Film
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 25, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    700 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    16mm Film
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • CUNY Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    April 29, 2017
    Student Premiere
    Best LGBTQ Film
  • YoniFest
    Los Angeles
    United States
    North American Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Mathilde Suissa

Mathilde Suissa is a New York based Director and Production Designer. After studying film production in New York, she has directed multiple award winning films, 16mm film and digital. She works freelance as a Production Designer in film and TV, and has designed series, music videos, promos and most recently a feature film. Mathilde is part of Director / DP Duo company Take Two XX with fellow DP Jennifer Liu, where they direct and DP all types of projects.

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Director Statement

One of the primary influences of Petra comes from the work of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, most directly from his 1972 film The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant. Fassbinder’s character of Petra Von Kant and the performance of Margit Carstensen aesthetically inspired the creation of my film. Fassbinder’s unique imageries along with Petra Von Kant’s relationship with femininity evoke one of the foundations of his filmmaking, confrontation.
I wanted to tell the story of simplicity, and removed all dialogue from the film to focus upon image and the depth of image. With all of my films, I am to select and propel stories and characters that are otherwise missing from the cinema. My previous short film The Blue Room explored the aesthetic technique of the long take with a provoking female villain who breaks character stereotypes. Petra explores the daily routine of a transgender female, not for sympathy or exploitation, but as a human story of happiness and reality. The film also carries a connection between the beauty and unpredictability of 16mm film and the outer body connecting with the soul.