Monday, May 16, 2011

Valentine to Perfume: Woman's Picture and Tableau de Parfums


Woman's Picture Trailer from brian pera on Vimeo.


Here's the trailer to a film about three women called Woman's Picture.  The film premieres in Los Angeles this July (details to follow).  The film, and the website I've created for it, Evelyn Avenue, has a lot to do with perfume.  Each of the women's stories in Woman's Picture revolves around the influence of a fragrance, in a way that gives perfume something approaching magical properties.  Ismellthereforeiam tends to cut videos in half, and can make loading the site a long term endeavor, so feel free to watch the trailer full screen through vimeo for the full effect, or watch it on Evelyn Avenue.


Woman's Picture is a tribute to the women I grew up with and the perfumes they loved.  As some of you who read the blog know, I spent a lot of time as a kid sneaking into my sister's/mother's/grandmother's perfume collections, sniffing myself into my own private fantasy world.  Woman's Picture puts some of those fantasies on film.  These three women's stories are the first in an ongoing series dedicated to cinematic first-person portraiture.  Each portrait is thirty minutes, and the gallery of portraits will broadcast on Evelyn Avenue starting in October.  Until then, you can catch the first three, in feature film form, at a film festival near you.  We'll keep you posted on dates.  I created Woman's Picture not just as a tribute to the women who've influenced me directly but as an homage to the old women's films from the 30s, 40s and 50s, many of which I love.  The biggest ambition behind the series, though, was to make movies that involve perfume directly and integrally, rather than as something that appears in the background, out of focus, on a character's dresser.

Andy Tauer is collaborating with this ten year project by creating a line of perfumes called Tableau de Parfums.  Visit Evelyn Avenue for more information on that, as well.  These perfumes are inspired by the characters of Woman's Picture.  The first three perfumes are "Miriam", "Ingrid", and "Loretta".  The launch date for the line is October of this year.

The film is on facebook under facebook.com/womanspicture, if you "like".

19 comments:

Elisa said...

Congratulations Brian! I can't wait to see the film and smell the perfumes.

Anonymous said...

This is exciting - congratulations and best wishes, Brian!

I'm so moved by that statement, "The whole world is mothers and daughters." It might be more poignant to me now that I've lost both my grandmothers. I watch my mother struggling because she's no longer a daughter; I see my daughter trying to make her way from girl to woman, in a high school world that doesn't appreciate her considerable gifts.

That's what we are, mothers and daughters: love and mistakes. Love and mistakes, more of one than the other, or so we hope. If we're lucky. If we try.

[This is the first time I've been able to comment in some weeks. I usually have great difficulty in loading ISTIA. Don't know why.]

queen_cupcake said...

Wonderful to read about this project, Brian. I am excited and happy for you! Looking forward to sampling the Tauer perfumes too. XO

Tania said...

Muse, I find the site loads very slowly, too.

This is a fascinating project. I hope to see all the films, one way or another.
Usually the perfume in films is in the background, if at all, just glimpsed on a dressing table. I love the idea of bringing it front and centre. And I love the idea that Andy Taauer is involved. Can't wait to sniff those.

Brian said...

Hey Muse, I lost both of my grandmothers in the course of a year about ten years or so ago, and I've never really gotten past it.

They were such incredible women, and totally misunderstood, as strong, independent, opinionated women often are. Most of what I do creatively has to do in some way with an attempt to deal with that loss, the gap they're absence leaves in my life and the way their lives continue to inform my decisions and, um, judgments.

Neither of them ever seemed to take the popular path, something I admired but now understand first hand to have all sorts of consequences as well. Woman's Picture is a love letter to them.

When the character Miriam says the whole world is mothers and daughters I think it's a tricky statement. For me it reflects how difficult it is to get at those weird, internal connections women make with each other within families. It's sometimes something like a subterfuge, because their actions and lives can be so misunderstood when viewed from an outsider's point of view. Men too. But the men in my family seemed to live by an entirely different set of rules and were - and continue to be - evaluated so differently. The women in my family fascinated me more, and I want to make stories that reflect their lives from the inside.

Brian said...

AARGH. I'm not sure what to do about the site loading slowly. I'm not sure if it's because we have more traffic in the last year or so. I can't think of another reason but it would see that google could handle the load? I'll look into it.

Cupcake, Tania, Elisa, I've smelled the first two perfumes, Miriam and Loretta, and they're incredible. They're recognizable Tauer perfumes but something different, and it's exciting to see Andy explore in a slightly different direction. Miriam is a little nostalgic and melancholy. It's definitely a vintage feel. Loretta shocked me. And I think if I went to a desert island I would need at least a keg full of it.

Anonymous said...

I'm really looking forward to smelling the scents, too. Forgot to mention.

Kathryn said...

I've just spent the better part of an hour exploring Evelyn Avenue. It's one of the most fascinating virtual places I've ever been. Thank you so much for letting us know it's there! There's such a wonderful combination of insight, love, and humor surrounding the characters you've created that I want to keep getting to know them. That I will soon be able to smell their fragrances is a truly delightful thing to anticipate.

Marko said...

Yay!!! Make sure you let me know when you are going to be in L.A. - can't wait to meet you AND see the film. Now I'm off to Evelyn Avenue for a while.

Zanne said...

BRAVO, Brian! I've watched the trailer a few times & I'm riveted - Must Must find a way to see this film though I'm not near a festival circuit... Just from the trailer, Wow at the screen presence of these actors! And what an innovative idea altogether! You must be Entirely Proud to see this 10-year project come to fruition..and Excited about the fan response :)

Congrats again!!
Zanne (p.s. can't wait to smell the Tauer collaborations!)

Katie Puckrik said...

This is fine news! Looking forward to smell-o-vision, Tauer/Pera style.

Karin said...

I love this, Brian!!! It's funny I was just thinking about my mom last night...how I don't really even remember having a relationship with her when I was growing up. She was the disciplinarian in our home, not mean, but firm and fair. She cooked and cleaned. She gathered the neighborhood kids together, and we'd do plays for the parents - she's write the script, make the costumes and the sets. But a personal relationship? Strange, but we didn't have one.

Now that my parents are in their late 70's and they live close by, she's told me I'm her best friend. We talk much more, but mostly I listen. She tells me she has a difficult time expressing feelings and thoughts, always has. I suppose that helps me understand her a bit more. But she's never shown much interest in my life, or given advice. I suppose I'm much closer to my dad in that respect. Not sure I understand it, but I accept it. She's my mom, and I love her.

Olfacta said...

Hi Brian -- Got my MAC back today. THe video loaded quickly, btw.

It's beautiful.

Ona said...

Fantastic! I hope it gets international release.

That placating expression on the Team Leader's face at the very end makes me homicidal! Nice casting there!

Aimée L'Ondée said...

Awesome, Brian! Congrats!

Emma said...

Am really looking forward to seeing this. What is happening with outside US distribution? Say....Australia?

Brian said...

Emma, woman's picture is a series of short films, all themed around perfume and central women characters. The first, "Miriam", will be available for viewing online at evelynavenue.com in October, when the first Tauer perfume in the Tableu de Parfums line launches. The shorts will also be available on DVD.

Bellatrix perfumes said...

Bravo Brian!!!

human pheromones said...

That is a great trailer. Congratulations! Can't wait to smell the perfumes too. :)

eula w