58x award-winning husband and wife filmmakers Daniel Lir and Bayou Bennett of Dream Team Directors won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Set Design and Best Actor for their film “Time is Eternal” at the prestigious La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival 2022 on July 31, 2022.
The highly visual film takes you inside the mind renowned female writer in present-day Los Angeles, who is penning her latest novel, which imagines the fictional meeting of two legendary women. Cleopatra VIII, queen of Egypt during the first century B.C., comes face to face with the English writer-women’s rights activist Mary Wollstonecraft, also the mother of “Frankenstein” author Mary Shelley.
A powerful ode to female strength, the film chronicles a soulful discussion between these two trailblazers. Both known as lovers and as warriors for a cause, the fighter and the writer contemplate their differing approaches to leadership, culminating in a shared passion that intertwines eternally.
“We wanted to highlight the power of women across history, in a previously male-dominated world,” says Lir. “I strongly related to Berite’s purpose to inform a younger generation about the impactful and under-represented contribution of these women to the creation of our culture.”
“I want audiences to be overwhelmed with beauty and brought into a world of inspiration that helps them forget their troubles and all we have been through as a human race in the last two years” says Bennett.
Lir and Bennett inspired by Berite Labelle’s goal to make history relevant to a younger generation brought on celebrity stylist and costume designer, Wilford Lenov, to help interpret history through a modern fashion lens. Lenov is known for working with pop stars such as Saweetie, Katy Perry, Bebe Rexha, and Iggy Azalea.
“Every character was about women’s empowerment and I wanted to push the envelope and bring a fashion element to the characters and a sexier twist. What can we spin off in the feminine energy for Gen Z and beyond?” Wiford Lenov
Since October 2021, the film’s star, Berite Labelle who brilliantly plays 4 roles diverse roles in the film, has covered four international editions of Vogue, Glamour and Harper’s Bazaar as well as Bold magazine.
Daniel Lir and Bayou Bennett have a long track record of inspiring, awareness raising films and documentaries collaborating with top talent such as Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo, Oscar nominee Juliette Lewis, Golden Globe nominee Lea Michele plus stand out brand work for Coldplay, Paris Hilton, Bella Hadid x Chrome Hearts, Atlantic Records, Lindsey Stirling and more.
Their 2019 short film, “Tombstone Pillow”, has drawn widespread acclaim and won 33 awards being introduced in Italy at the Allora Festival by three time Oscar nominee Edward Norton.
