Gambling, Gods and LSD (2002)

Directed by Peter Mettler | Canada | 180 min From an airport mega-church where a pastor performs flamboyant feats of faith-healing to poncho-clad crowds gathering to witness the implosion of a Vegas hotel; from recovering Swiss addicts reviewing their lives’ winding paths to spontaneous sacred encounters with strangers in India; Swiss-Canadian nonfiction auteur Peter Mettler’s most emblematic work is a rigorously associative travelogue, traversing diverse continents and landscapes, spiritual convictions and psychological states. Transcendence is the core theme, prepared improvisation the modus operandi. Whether flying solo or accompanied by a skeleton crew, Mettler’s capacity to be fully present, his gentle approach to interlocution, and his uncanny antenna for eccentricity draw in a stream of fascinating characters ready to articulate their longing for the infinitely varied sublime. A film of arrivals and departures, this Genie-winning, intuition-fuelled essay on peak experience is a peak in Mettler’s oeuvre and should be on any list of the greatest Canadian films ever made. This special screening of Gambling, Gods and LSD will be hosted by José Teodoro, author of Nothing But Time: Conversations with Peter Mettler on Life and Cinema (Anvil Press), copies of which will be available for purchase and signing. Post show conversation after the screening.