This year, the Vilnius Documentary Film Festival (VDFF) invites you to get to know Peter Mettler, a musician, choreographer, photographer, director - an artist who never ignored the boundaries of artistic disciplines - in more detail. Film retrospective of the unique Canadian-Swiss filmmaker, Lithuanian film premieres, the latest artistic documentaries from around the world and virtual reality experiences - September 23 - October 10. - In Vilnius, Beautiful, Klaipėda and online.
"Peter Mettler is hard to categorize. His creations are mysterious travel films that explore the visible and invisible worlds. Combining images from travels, conversations with people he met and his own thoughts, he openly ventures into intangible topics - time, natural phenomena, the meaning of being. Mr. Mettler has established himself as one of the most interesting authors in the documentary world, he also creates feature films, performances, as well as photography projects, and is a DJ. We decided that it is time to introduce this versatile author to the VDFF", says Eglė Maceinaitė, one of the organizers of the festival program.
According to E. Maceinaitė, Mr. Mettler's uniqueness is manifested both in his works and in his approach to creative industries. The artist actively develops community networks that encourage the creation of innovative creative forms, new production and distribution strategies - so that independent creativity reaches its audience, but at the same time avoids the financial and ideological pressure of the commercial world.
Mr. Mettler's films have won numerous international awards and retrospectives of his work are held around the world. VDFF viewers in Vilnius will have the opportunity to see ten works of this unique artist, Klaipėda residents - one of them.
Mr. Mettler's film "Gambling, Gods and LSD" (2002) is a four-part journey through a world that accommodates both servants of the god and losers, sex-game lovers or ravers. From the Toronto airport to the comedy clubs of Mumbai, people in every corner of the earth are looking for the same thing: happiness. No matter how absurd those searches can sometimes appear. This film will also be available in Klaipėda cinema "ArleKinas".
Movie "The End of Time" (2012), the director explores the human relationship with the absolute metaphysical inevitability of time. In hypnotic documentary footage, in which the images of the scientific laboratory CERN are changed by the eruption of lava in Hawaii, the collapse of Detroit and Buddhist monasteries, the director manages to capture what seems to be impossible to stop in principle.
To look at the world through the eyes of a patient discharged from a psychiatric clinic is inviting scissor (1982). Visually impactful shots constantly blur the boundaries between the senses, intuition and rationality. The tape dedicated to Bruno, the main character of the film, whom Mr. Mettler met while visiting an addiction center, reminds us that our usual social order can look like a frightening chaos in the eyes of another person.
"Light in the Picture" (1994) the director observes those who are also watching - flashes of light in the Canadian Arctic. The irrepressible desire of tourists to use technology to capture the wonder of nature in life and on film sometimes turns into a comical effort. The themes of the relationship between nature and technology, science and mythology are a prominent feature of Mr. Mettler's work.
The lead of his feature film "in the back of his head" (1989) the hero Gus is an ordinary seller of satellite dishes, whose life changes dramatically when he meets the artist Lucy. It is a comical and phantasmagorical love story in which Gus almost gets lost in the vastness of the material world, through which Mr. Mettler guides the viewer with his unique cinematic gaze.
Another feature film of his is waiting for the audience at the Documentary Film Festival - "Tectonic Plates" (1992), in which the main character goes on a journey that intertwines the memories of the character and the history of the whole world. It travels from one era to another, thus searching for answers about the relationship of consciousness with politics, culture and human sexuality.
The retrospective of six full-length films will be complemented by the screening of four in one session Mr. Mettler's selection of short films: Footprints of the Future (2014), Lancelot Freelancer (1980), Far Away (2007) and Eastern Avenue (1985).
In addition to the seven films in the main program, this year the festival will present two premieres of Lithuanian films: Jurgios Matulevičius and Paulius Anič "Golden Vial" (2021) and Gerda Paliušytė never more (2020). There is also the thematic program "Earth Observers", which invites you to think about the parallels between the Earth and space, a program of virtual reality films and a retrospective of the work of the Swiss-Canadian director Peter Mettler.The festival will open its doors to cinemas from September 23 to October 3. – in Vilnius, October 1. Kaunas, October 8-10. - in Klaipėda.
