Swiss/Canadian filmmaker and video artist Peter Mettler, known for the film Picture of Light (1994) and many others, in an interview with Paul Spinrad [1], told him that his interest in live video mixing (VJing) grew naturally from the associative and improvisational way he makes films. “I like to mix like an alchemist,” he said, “juxtaposing elements that you wouldn’t expect to find together, prompting the viewer to respond associatively” (112).
Peter Mettler’s latest, While the Green Grass Grows, won the Grand Prix of the International Feature Film Competition at the 54th edition of Visions du Réel in Nyon, Switzerland, in April 2023. According to Variety, [2] the Swiss-Canadian director had “an unusual project: made in the form of a diary filmed from 2019 to 2021, While the Green Grass Grows is, in fact, a series of seven episodes with a total duration of about 11 hours. It was the finished parts one and six of the series, totalling 166 minutes, that Mettler unveiled” in Switzerland.
It’s Mettler’s second win following his 2002 victory with Gambling, Gods and LSD. “It’s interesting to see the progression of cinema in general over twenty one years,” he said. “When I came to Nyon, I had the same feeling as when I made Gambling, Gods and LSD because both of these films are outside of the usual realm of filmmaking. I was happy to see the kind of projects that are being made now, shown and rewarded. I think it’s a step forward in terms of the risks that people take, the depths that they go into with their work.”
I met Peter Mettler in 2004. Our work connects on many levels, including our insistence on telling cinematic stories in the first person and our continued expansion of the boundaries of image mixing in an experimental art context.
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You’re listening to Cinesthesia, produced live in the studio at Trent Radio 92.7 CFFF FM in beautiful (Nogojiwanong) Peterborough, Ontario, every Thursday at 5 PM. Then, I publish it as a podcast on SoundProof, creative nonfiction for audio. I’m your producer and host, LA Alfonso. In this audio program, film theory meets film music.
Playlist
Barzin / Main Theme (film: The Shadow of My Life) • Barzin / An Opening (film: The Shadow of My Life) • Barzin / Folded Petal (film: The Shadow of My Life) • Tony Coe / Eva (film: Gambling, Gods, and LSD) • Koch-Schutz-Struder (plus DJ M. Singe & DJ I-Sound), Dimitri de Perrot, Jim O’Rourke / Implosion (film: Gambling, Gods, and LSD) • Knut & Silvy / Dust (film: Gambling, Gods, and LSD) • Henryk Gorecki, Fred Frith / Over There (film: Gambling, Gods, and LSD) • Marie-Helene L. Delorme / Le Depart (Générique de fin) (film: Les Notres – Our Own) • Rolston String Quartet / Black Angels by George Crumb (excerpt) (live) • Marie-Helene L. Delorme / Le Corridor (film: Les Notres – Our Own) • TRUTH / Leviathan • Wrath / Paige Juila • Seth A. Smith / The Crescent (film: The Crescent) • Marie-Helene L. Delorme / Le Reveil (film: Les Notres – Our Own) • Marie-Helene L. Delorme / La Douche (film: Les Notres – Our Own) • Marie-Helene L. Delorme / Interlude (film: Les Notres – Our Own) • Marie-Helene L. Delorme / La Bataille (film: Les Notres – Our Own) • Marie-Helene L. Delorme / Le Camping (film: Les Notres – Our Own) • Michael Gary Dean / Scene I (Transparent Material) (film: Previz) • Michael Gary Dean / Scene II (Planetarium) (film: Previz) • Emmanuel Schwartz & Philippe B / I Am Gold (film: Nous sommes Gold) • Jean Corriveau / Un Zoo, La Nuit (film: Un Zoo La Nuit) • Third Eye Foundation, Jim O’Rourke, Peter Braker, Dimitri de Perrot / Las Vegas (film: Gambling, Gods, and LSD)
The Dead Of Winter 48 Hour Film Challenge 2024 — launches on Friday, February 16 at 6 PM at The Theatre On King with a meet and greet of your fellow filmmakers, a Q&A, team assignments and your inspiration packages; then you’ll then have 48 Hours to make your masterpiece. Registration is open until Valentine’s Day. Contact filmchallenge48@gmail.com for more details.
Original broadcast date: January 26, 2024, 5 PM