The 66th edition of DOK Leipzig will feature a homage to the distinguished filmmaker Peter Mettler. The films by this Swiss-Canadian director create a space for exploring humanity’s search for meaning and questions about its existence in a captivatingly impartial and reverent way.

The two chapters that Mettler has thus far released of his seven-part cinematic diary “While the Green Grass Grows” earned him the Grand Prix at the 2023 Visions du Réel festival. Drawing upon Mettler’s personal memories and family experiences, the film looks at life cycles and the way the world is constantly changing. “While the Green Grass Grows” will be competing for the Golden Dove in the International Competition Documentary Film at DOK Leipzig. The homage will also include two of his earlier films: “Picture of Light” (1994), in which his team goes in search of the Northern Lights and acquiesces to a state of waiting, and “Gambling, Gods and LSD” (2002), a hypnotic, musical film about people in search of transcendence and ecstasy.

“Peter Mettler is a traveller who is constantly sifting through the layers of time and space and the continuum of the filmmaking process, aware that the significance of human beings on Planet Earth is ultimately of little consequence,” notes Annina Wettstein, the programme’s curator.

In a masterclass, Mettler will provide insight into his unique, process-oriented approach to making all the films screened at the festival as well as the cinematic notebook “Eastern Avenue” (1985). He will also present previously unreleased excerpts of other instalments of “While the Green Grass Grows”.

DOK Leipzig will also be welcoming animated filmmaker Tess Martin. This artist, who was born in the United States, has lived in Italy, Ghana and the UK and is currently living in the Netherlands. Her experience of growing up amid different cultures allows her personal perspective on such themes as belonging, identity, interpersonal issues and historical events to inform her art.

“1976: Search for Life” is an example of this, interweaving memories of her own family with images from the landing of the first NASA probes on Mars. This work, which was originally conceived as an installation, crosses over into fine art, as does “The Whale Story”, a stop-motion animated film in which an actor portraying a diver interacts with a mural depicting a whale.

Martin’s work encompasses numerous explorations of different media and styles, from charcoal drawings to painted glass, to photo cut-outs and pixilation, to Phonotrope animation.

“Many of Tess Martin's films reveal her analogue approach,” says curator and animator Franka Sachse. “She doesn’t conceal or remove the traces of this. They’re ever so slightly palpable – in hand-cut paper, in barely perceptible fingerprints in smudged charcoal, and in the subtle vibration of sequential photographs against a static background.”

During her retrospective at the “Animation Night” on the festival Friday, 13 October, Martin will present a number of her short films, giving a glimpse into the mind and soul of the artist. The first part of the evening will be dedicated to the works she has created over the past ten years as a professional filmmaker, in chronological order. The second part will explore the inspiration for her earlier works and their connection to her current project, which is still in the production stage.

The entire selection of films in the programmes profiled here can be found in the PDF file of the press release (see above).