I was finishing my studies in international law in the Netherlands when Michal and Katinka invited me to travel with them as their photographer on THE DESCENDANTS PROJECT. They explained the original concept over the phone: to explore their family histories, while interviewing others in their generation who were 3rd and 4th "descendants" of the WWII Holocaust. For me, it was an enticing transition from learning about international political systems developed to reconcile genocide, to the documentation of individuals considering those same questions in their own lives.

By the time the three of us met in Berlin, opportunities were unfolding around us. As we traveled from location to location conducting research and interviews, it was the unanticipated tension developing between Katinka and Michal that became the crux of the story. The profound impact of uncovering their family histories together had rested itself in the silence between them. Michal was struggling with waves of anxiety and panic attacks. Katinka was unusually distant and aloof. I became the person each of them confided in. As I witnessed this story unfolding, my role rapidly expanded beyond videographer.

Joined in post-production by Amy Enser, the project became a truly collaborative, four-woman effort. Michal and Katinka continued to transcend the line between primary subjects and directors throughout the process. Amy and I became witnesses to the story that was developing between them in real time and articulators of the story on screen.

What emerged is THE DESCENDANTS PROJECT, a powerful glimpse into the world of two friends, in a sliver of time, as they grapple with reconciling their friendship with the knowledge of their ancestral heritage. While working on this film, I found myself inspired to dig through genealogical records and trace my own lineage of early North American colonial settlers. The parallels were unavoidable. Each one of us has a genealogical past that is rich and complex; something we can and should explore to give meaning to our current day relationships. It is the universality of this theme that deepened my commitment to THE DESCENDANTS PROJECT and its ultimate intent to stir dialogue, debate, and raise intergenerational consciousness about the past we inherit.

Sid Peterson