Peter Mettler

Peter Mettler est un cinéaste expérimental canadien et suisse dont l’oeuvre, ouvertement hybride et protéiforme, s’intéresse notamment aux relations entre technologies et nature. Parallèlement à ses propres productions – dont Gambling, Gods and LSD (2002) ou The End of Time (2012) – il collabore avec des artistes internationaux comme Atom Egoyan, Jennifer Baichwal ou Robert Lepage.

Il expose régulièrement ses photographies, participe à des performances (danse, théâtre, etc.) en tant que scénographe et se livre au VJing en collaborant avec de nombreux DJ dans des festivals de musique électronique. Cet essayiste du cinéma du réel évolue « aux frontières de beaucoup de choses – entre continents et cultures, entre formes cinématographiques, […] entre intellect et intuition, entre document et illusion, entre masculin et féminin, entre ordre et chaos ». Le travail de Peter Mettler ne correspond à aucune forme ni à aucun genre défini. Entre expérimentation et essai personnel, film de fiction et documentaire, le cinéma de Mettler est avant tout une combinaison d’expériences visuelles et sonores, le cinéaste se souciant toujours de porter le cinéma au-delà d’une lecture linéaire et univoque.

Piers Handling, Director of the Toronto International Film Festival:

"Peter Mettler is an incomparable talent in Canadian cinema. The innovation and audacity of his work, his dedication to the cinematic art form, and his ability to conjure up images that remain permanently etched in one's mind, secures his place as one of this country's most distinguished contemporary filmmakers."

Mettler is known for a diversity of work in image and sound mediums – foremost for his films such as “Picture of Light” and “Gambling, Gods and LSD” but also as a photographer and groundbreaking live audio/visual mixing performer. His work bridges the gap between experimental, narrative, personal essay, and documentary. He has collaborated with an extensive range of international artists and has been honored with awards and retrospectives worldwide.

From the very beginning of his career Peter Mettler has created films deemed impossible to make, yet readily appreciated once they exist. A key figure in the critical wave of 80's Canadian filmmakers, Mettler produces works which elude categorization. Melding intuitive processes with drama, essay, experiment or documentation, his films hold a unique and influential position in creative expression not only in film but also in new art forms where cinema and other disciplines merge.

Additional artistic activities include a wide range of ongoing engagements in music, dance and photography. Over the years Mettler has presented photographic gallery exhibitions in Europe and Canada. More recently he has been experimenting with live sound and image mixing performances with a diversity of musical artists in an extremity of locales ranging from radio theatres to dance clubs and wilderness locations. An interview with Mettler on these activities is included in the 2005 publication “The VJ Book” by Paul Spinrad.

Based both in Switzerland and Canada, Mettler is a strong supporter of independent creativity, having collaborated with numerous filmmakers, artists and musicians such as Werner Penzel, Michael Ondaatje, Atom Egoyan, Peter Weber, Fred Frith, Jim O'Rourke, Tom Kuo, Alexandra Rockingham Gill, Robert Lepage, Andreas Züst, Bruce McDonald, Patricia Rozema, Andrea Nann, Edward Burtynsky, Jennifer Baichwal and many others.

He is active in the development of community networks which foster and share the growth of innovative creative forms and new means of production and distribution which will allow the independent artist to reach his or her particular audience while lightening the financial and ideological pressures of the commercial market.

A book on his work entitled Making the Invisible Visible was published in 1995 and another entitled Of This Place and Elsewhere: The Films and Photography of Peter Mettler by Jerry White was published in 2006 as a retrospective film and photography edition by the Toronto International Film Festival.

Meditations on our world, rooted in personal experience, his works reflect the visions and wonder of their characters and audiences alike. Mettler’s films have garnered many prizes and been the focus of several retrospectives internationally.