Jan Peters (* 1966) is a filmmaker, radio play author, and video artist. He has been Professor for Film and Moving Image at the Kunsthochschule Kassel since 2012.
The filmmaker studied at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg and is a co-founder of the filmmaker collective “Abbildungszentrum.”
Peters has made numerous award-winning short and feature-length films. For “December 1-31” he won the 3sat Documentary Film Award at the 1999 Duisburger Filmwoche. In addition he has created radio plays and (theatrical) performances, more recently “Collisions” (together with Marie-Catherine Theiler). His works have also been shown as part of exhibitions, including at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
From 2013 to 2014 he was “Artist in Residence” at the European Nuclear Research Center CERN in Geneva.
In 2019 Jan Peters received the honorary from of the 36th Kasseler Dokfest for especially innovative achievements in film and art. In 2023 he was honored with the achtung berlin Camera Prize for his work on the image (Eigentlich eigentlich Januar).
From 2013 to 2025 was a board member at the Hessen Film and Media Academy (hFMA). His commitment provided important impulses for cooperation between universities in Hessen.
Films (selected):
Eigentlich eigentlich Januar (2023, 16. LICHTER Filmfest Duisburger Filmwoche), 30 Jahre, aber den Sinn des Lebens habe ich immer noch nicht rausgefunden (2019, Kasseler DokFest), Cern Material Trigger 42 (2017, co-director Volksbühne Berlin), Nichts ist besser als gar nichts (2010, DokLeipzig), Timeʼs up 2009 (co-director: Marie-Catherine Theiler, Hot Docs Toronto), Wie ich ein freier Reisebegleiter wurde (2007, rating: “especially valuable”), 13 ou 14 (2004, Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival), Wie ich ein Höhlenmaler wurde (20 Sheffield International Documentary Festival ), Ich bin 33 (2000, International Kurzfilmfestival Hamburg), Dezember, 1–31 (1999, Berlinale), November, 1–30 (1998, Visons du reel, Nyon).