About

MISSION STATEMENT:

To share the beauty of the world;
To inspire and inform;
To explore cultures;
To document events for minority
and activist groups;
To help and promote emerging talents;
To aim for a high level
of professionalism.

Biography

Teri Petz was born and raised in rural Hungary near the Danube River on the outskirts of the multicultural city, Mohács. She experienced the diversity of cultures from early childhood. Her early memories influenced her later life. Even as a young child she saw the beauty of nature and the different ethnic groups she was exposed to. In her adult years that led to an intense thirst to learn about different cultures, study healing methods and celebrate the diversity of the world.
Her circumstances led her to take woodworking, a rather masculine career. Later she partially pursued her childhood dream of being a nurse, took a nurses aid course and yet returned to woodworking and heavy physical labor in order to support her aging mother and herself. Shortly after her wedding she left Hungary in 1984 with her husband in hopes of a better life and arrived in Toronto in 1988 on a gray January day. Being a girl of the woods, the river and wide open fields she felt strange living in an apartment building in the metropolis. All through the year she spent there she longed for the open green space with bird songs she used to wake up to in her childhood instead of sirens and traffic noise.

A year later they relocated to the multicultural Kitchener for about a year. She enjoyed the diversity and rural feel of the city but a year later her husband moved to Victoria in order to pursue steady employment and a convoy of family and friends followed him. “I will never forget the short drive from the ferry terminal to our apartment: I was in awe and mesmerized by the colors of Victoria. The Rhododendrons were in bloom, the hanging baskets started to show their colors and I saw a lot of green space. I let out a big sigh and exclaimed: I am home! I have not felt that way since I left Hungary.”

Teri has done almost everything within legal and moral boundaries for a living since receiving her woodworking certificate, always aiming for quality and dignity in what she did and kept looking for ways to better her skills. “Around 2001-02 I realized I wanted a career change. I had no idea about what to do because I had so many interests. My partner Neil supported me while I explored possibilities. Both of us were longing for changes in our lives so we decided to go on an extended holiday to Hungary. It was a good move financially and we both woke up there. He woke up to the cultural differences and I woke up to reunion on many levels and the opportunity to live my dreams, spending time on writing and photography. After doing many public poetry readings I was invited to present a talk about Canada. I decided not only to talk but to show my audience my beautiful surroundings on Vancouver Island. I showed my digital pictures on a big screen TV and every time I advanced from one image to the next people expressed their awe about what they saw. Finally it dawned on me: this is what I want to do: show people the beauty of the world and build bridges. Later I refined the mission. Building bridges between cultures.

After returning to Victoria the picture started to become clear. The best way to fulfill the mission is by film or video. With my partner Neil supporting me again we now worked hard to buy equipment and I spent much time learning to operate everything I needed to create videos. After much trial and error, I now have the equipment to produce quality videos. I am drawn to projects with a social mission, things that make our world a better place, while spending my free time in nature capturing animals, plants and the beauty nature offers us. ”

Testimonials

To work with Teri is a wonderful experience: she's enthusiastic, creative and sensitive. She's open to other people's ideas and contributes plenty of her own. She's dedicated to excellence and loves her job thoroughly. It's a joy to work with her.

Lina de Guevara
Artistic Director
PUENTE Theatre
Victoria, Canada

Your video “Introduction” is very well done. You show things most of us mortal people just walk by without noticing the beauty, yet we would only have to stop for a moment.

Piroska Gura
Bár, Hungary

I am glad I saw your “Introduction” video. It is great and brought many tears to my eyes.

Antal Mayer
Mohács, Hungary

The sights and sounds of “The Beauty of Vancouver Island” were breathtaking. I don't have the vocabulary to express how great your work on this project was.

Dave Kurier
Victoria, Canada

“I had the pleasure of working with Teri Petz on two video productions documenting Forum Theatre projects about social justice and community issues. Teri demonstrated sensitivity toward and passion about the issues. She worked very well with our participants, including youth at risk. Teri’s creative work contributed a great deal to the success of the projects.”

River Chandler
Artistic Director
TheatreWorks
www.theatreworksbc.ca