We were paying homage to acclaimed filmmaker Peter Mettler at the 2023 festival. 

Filmmaking is process. This is rarely truer than in his unique creative practice. His work stays in flow, continuously. Our Homage programme will include two of his earlier films: “Picture of Light” (1994), in which his team goes in search of the Northern Lights, and “Gambling, Gods and LSD” (2002), a film about people in search of transcendence and ecstasy. The first two chapters of his seven-part cinematic diary “While the Green Grass Grows” are part of our International Competition Documentary Film.

In this masterclass Peter Mettler offered insights into his exceptional, equally processual and empirical approach and a preview of upcoming parts of “While the Green Grass Grows.”

Tess Martin’s poetic stories about belonging, identity and loss ring with echoes of autobiographical experiences. She is present in every single frame of her animated films, leaves fingerprints, edges of shadows, traces of work. The artist invited us to follow those traces with her – in an exclusive commented show of her works.