Biography
Luc Peter, born in Lausanne (Switzerland) in 1963, studied political science at the University of Geneva until 1989. He then attended the École Cantonale d'Art de Lausanne (ECAL), where he graduated in film in 1994. During his studies, he gained practical experience as an assistant director and stage manager on Jean-Luc Godard's "Hélas pour moi" (FR 1993) and Krzysztof Kieślowski's "Trois Couleurs: Rouge" ("Three Colors: Red", FR/PL/CH 1994).
After graduating from ECAL, Peter began working as a director, producer and cameraman in 1995. He shot reports and documentaries for Swiss television. In 2001, he joined the Swiss production company Intermezzo Films as a producer, which he later took over ownership of (from 2017 together with Katia Monla).
In addition to his extensive work as a producer, Luc Peter has also repeatedly made his own films. For example, he directed documentaries about the artist Christian Marclay ("Record Player", 2000) and the choreographer Gilles Jobin ("Le Voyage de Moebius", 2002) as well as two episodes of the TV documentary series "Design Suisse" (2005). Luc Peter has also directed the majority of his own films; in addition, he is regularly responsible for the visual design of other directors, including the award-winning feature film "On dirait le sud" (CH 2003).
Together with Stéphanie Barbey, Peter made the documentary "Magic Radio" (CH 2007), which illustrates the great social significance of regional radio stations in Niger. With "Broken Land" (CH 2014), the directing duo Peter and Barbey made a documentary about the effects of US migration policy: seven very different Americans describe how they deal with the living situation on the strictly secured border to Mexico. After numerous international festival participations, the film was released in Swiss cinemas at the beginning of 2015.
Peter has produced numerous documentaries, including the award-winning films "Almost There" (CH 2016), about the personal search for meaning and happiness of three ageing people, "Free Men" (CH 2018), about the artistic successes of a death row inmate, and "Fiancées" (CH 2019), about the social "compulsion" to marry in Egyptian society.
In their third joint documentary, Peter and Barbey once again tackled the issue of migration in the USA: for "Dreamers" (CH/DE 2023), the two spent months following a Mexican man who has been living and working illegally in the USA for 20 years - well integrated and with a solid livelihood, but with virtually no rights and in constant fear of deportation. After participating in several festivals, "Dreamers" was released in German cinemas at the beginning of 2024.