International Documentary Film Festival
March 30 - April 6, 2025
Kaptol Boutique Cinema, Zagreb

Gambling, Gods and LSD

Peter Mettler

Gambling, Gods and LSD

A filmmaker’s quest for transcendence becomes a three-hour trip across countries, cultures and time. From the scene of his childhood in Toronto, Mettler sets out on a journey that includes evangelism at the airport strip, demolition in Las Vegas, tracings in the Nevada desert, chemistry and street life in Switzerland, and the coexistence of technology and divinity in contemporary India. Everywhere along the way, the same themes are found: thrill-seeking, luck, destiny, belief, expanding perception, and the craving for security in an uncertain world. Fact joins with fantasy; the search for meaning and the search for ecstasy begin to merge. An intuitive, visionary journey, and a lucid and personal portrait of our times, Gambling, Gods and LSD may change the way you look at the world. 

Canada, Switzerland 2002, '180

DIRECTOR: Peter Mettler

SCENARIO: Peter Mettler

CAMERA: Peter Mettler

MONTAGE: Peter Mettler, Roland Schlimme

MUSIC: Fred Frith, Peter Bräker, Dimitri de Perrot

PRODUCERS: Cornelia Seitler, Alexandra Rockingham Gill, Ingrid Veninger

PRODUCTION: maximage GmbH, Grimthorpe Film Inc.

FESTIVALS & AWARDS:

Visions du Réel: Grand Prix; Young Audience Award (2002)
Vancouver IFF: Best Documentary (2002)
Festival du cinema nouveau: Best Documentary (2002)
Duisburger Filmwoche: Best Documentary (2002)
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma Montréal: Best Documentary (2002)
Toronto IFF: Best Feature Lenght Documentary (2003)
Docs Against Gravity FF: Best Film (2003)
Academy of Canadian Cinema: Genie Award – Best Documentary (2003)

Peter Mettler

Peter Mettler

Throughout his extensive career, Peter Mettler has created films deemed impossible to make, yet readily appreciated once they exist. A restless cinematic adventurer, Mettler’s body of work is characterized by hybrid forms and a sense of wonder. Frequently visiting themes of transcendence and the relation between nature and technology, Mettler’s films combine travelogue, essay, interview, fiction and critique. They are guided by instinct yet grounded in discipline, structure, craft, and a knack for capturing stunning images and great stories. Mettler’s work holds a unique position not only for its innovation within the realm of documentary cinema, but also in new art forms where cinema and other disciplines merge. His collaborators include David Abram and Emma Davie, Atom Egoyan, Bruce McDonald, Fred Frith, Robert Lepage, Jim O’Rourke, Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky, and Jeremy Narby. Mettler’s films have been the focus of multiple retrospectives, including at BAFICI, Lincoln Centre, Jeu de Paume Paris, and Cinematheque Suisse, and have received awards from TIFF, the Academy of Canadian Cinema, Locarno Film Festival, Visions du Réel, and Hot Docs. In 2017, Picture of Light was selected by TIFF as one of Canada’s Essential 150 Canadian Films.

With support

Partners

Media sponsors

Sponsors

Special thanks