Identical twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

brothers Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig (), known collectively as the Spierig Brothers, are German-Australian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

s, producers, and

screenwriters A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. They are best known for their 2014

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

thriller, ''

Predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby Go ...

'', and 2017 horror, '' Jigsaw''.

Film career

Peter and Michael made their directing debut in 2003 with ''

Undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if they were alive. A common example of an undead being is a cadaver, corpse reanimated by supernatural forces, by the application of either the deceased's o ...

'', a low-budget zombie horror-comedy film, after they agreed on pooling together their life savings. It won a prize for Best

Visual Effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action fo ...

at the

Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Cinema of Australia, Australian film indu ...

Awards, and screened at 17 film festivals, including

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Sitges ; , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, renowned worldwide for Sitges Film Festival, its film festival, Carnival, and LGBTQ culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is know ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Amsterdam and Puchon. At the

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venic ...

, the

International Federation of Film Critics The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the worl ...

awarded ''Undead'' the prestigious FIPRESCI Award. The film was sold to 41 countries, and was released in the US and Canada by

Lions Gate Entertainment Starz Entertainment Corp, formerly known officially as Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation and commonly as Lions Gate and/or Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment industry, entertainment company currently headquartered in Santa Monica ...

, who developed a close relationship with Peter and Michael, and backed their second film, ''

Daybreakers ''Daybreakers'' is a 2009 American-Australian dystopian sci-fi action-horror vampire film written and directed by Michael and Peter Spierig. The film takes place in a futuristic world overrun by vampires, and centers around a vampiric corpor ...

''. ''Daybreakers'' (2010) starred four-time

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nominee

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, author, and film director. He made his film debut in ''Explorers (film), Explorers'' (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989). Hawke starr ...

, four-time

nominee

Willem Dafoe William James "Willem" Dafoe ( ; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. Known for his prolific career portraying diverse roles in both mainstream and arthouse films, he is the recipient of various accolades including a Volpi Cup Award for ...

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. His career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he is regarded as one of the most versatile acto ...

Claudia Karvan Claudia Karvan (born 19 May 1972) is an Australian actress and producer. As a child actor, she first appeared in the film '' Molly'' (1983) and followed with an adolescent role in ''High Tide'' (1987). She portrayed a teacher in '' The Heartb ...

Vince Colosimo Vincenzo Colosimo is an Australian stage, television and screen actor. He has worked in both Australia and the United States. He is of Italian descent and lives in Melbourne, Australia. He was previously married to Australian actress Jane Hall ...

Michael Dorman Michael Dorman (born 26 April 1981) is a New Zealand actor, best known for his starring roles as Tom Wilcox in '' Wonderland'' (2013–2015), John Tavner in ''Patriot'' (2015–2018), NASA astronaut Gordo Stevens in '' For All Mankind'' (2019� ...

, and

Isabel Lucas Isabel Lucas (born 29 January 1985) is an Australians, Australian actress, environmentalist and Model (person), model. She is best known for her roles in ''Home and Away'' (2003–06), ''Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' (2009), ''Daybreake ...

. The film was released in the United States on 2,500 screens in January 2010. The Spierig brothers' third film was the action sci-fi thriller ''

'' based on the 1959 science fiction

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

'" —All You Zombies—" by

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

. The film stars

and

Sarah Snook Sarah Ruth Snook (; born 1 December 1987) is an Australian actress. List of awards and nominations received by Sarah Snook, Her accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award. A gr ...

, and includes an appearance by

Noah Taylor Noah George Taylor (born 4 September 1969) is a British born Australian actor. The accolades he has received include nominations for three Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critics' Choice Award, and four AACTA Awards. He is best known for his ...

. The story recounts that of a detective from a covert government agency (Hawke) who embarks on an intricate series of time-travel journeys in order to catch a master criminal and ensure his own existence. The film was co-written and co-directed by the twins, and was filmed in Australia during Spring of 2013. After its premiere at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

on 8 March 2014, the film received many positive reviews including ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', and '' IGN Movies''. The two directed the eighth ''

Saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, Wire saw, wire, or Chainsaw, chain with a hard toothed edge used to cut through material. Various terms are used to describe toothed and abrasive saws. Saws began as serrated materials, and when man ...

'' film, '' Jigsaw'', which was released on 27 October 2017. Their next film was '' Winchester: The House That Ghosts Built'', a horror film about the

Winchester Mystery House The Winchester Mystery House is a mansion in San Jose, California, that was once the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of firearms magnate William Wirt Winchester. The house became a tourist attraction nine months after Winch ...

, starring

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (; born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov; 26 July 1945) is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of Helen Mirren on screen and stage, screen and stage, List of awards and nominations received by Helen Mirre ...

as heiress

Sarah Winchester Sarah "Sallie" Lockwood Winchester (née Pardee; June 4, 1839 – September 5, 1922) was an American Inheritance, heiress who amassed great wealth after the death of her husband, William Wirt Winchester, and her mother in law, Jane Ellen Hope. W ...

, and released on 2 February 2018. Both films however received largely negative reviews.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

''Predestination'' won the 2014 John Hinde Award for Excellence in Science-Fiction Writing. ;

AACTA Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the cinema of Australia, film and ...

;

Australian Film Institute Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industr ...

;

Golden Raspberry Awards The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic failures. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, the Razzi ...

;

; Toronto After Dark Film Festival

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spierig Brothers Living people German emigrants to Australia Australian twins Sibling filmmakers Queensland College of Art alumni Australian film directors Australian horror film directors Australian science fiction film directors Filmmaking duos Brother duos Year of birth missing (living people) Griffith Film School