Pas De Deux
Peter, a twenty five year old vagabond, has been traveling around the world for years with little money and no filter, while his nineteen year old brother Jon, the best diver of his generation in Switzerland, participates in a structured, daily routine springing from a board three meters above the water. They couldn’t be more different in their activities, in their relationship to people and places around them, but, in addition to looking so much alike, both are animated by a similar thirst for freedom, the questions around it, and are both deeply tied to family.
The film follows them both on their journey, at points together, but often separate: Jon moves to New York City to begin his collegiate studies and join the diving program at the prestigious Columbia University - while Peter stumbles around the Arabian desert, sick, questioning his way of living. Both are challenged by their geography, often finding that it exposes more confinement than freedom. Within these moments of distance, searching for the same unattainable answers, the already vast distance between them grows wider.
On a visual journey from Geneva to New York City, through Hungary, Jordan and the Azores, the brothers become unmasked through a variety of experiences and conversations that expose their own complex journey’s and the growing conflict between them that challenges not only their relationship but the intimacy, and sometimes judgement, of a unique family composed of a century old Chinese grandfather, a towering Chinese mother, an American father and a sister, Nina.
The relationship between Jon and Peter provides a unique and active window into this universal struggle - exploring what it means to be a family, brothers, and ultimately how the walls we build around ourselves are constantly shifting and effect those closest to us, even if they are oceans apart.
Director & Camera / Elie Aufseesser
Producer / Joshua R. Troxler
Co-Editor / Fernanda Froté
Currently in Post-Production / Feature Length / Documentary
