Respect: Wim Wenders

Wim Wenders (born 1945) is one of the most original and the most influential film directors today. He shot more than 30 feature films in Germany where he comes from and in many other countries in Europe, as well as in America and Asia. In 1970s he was a part of the of the New German Cinema movement together with the other influencers – Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog and Margarete von Trotta. The movement promoted social topics, the originality of an art piece and refused the commercial dictature of the film industry. Firstly, he studied medicine and philosophy, later at the school of arts in Paris where he spent evenings at the Cinémathèque française projections. These “film history classes” eventually became crucial for his future career. After coming back home from Paris, he studied at the University of Television and Film in Munich. Although it was his debut, The Goalkeeper’s Fear of the Penalty Kick (1971) was critically acclaimed. The real break-through of his career was The American Friend (1977). His work was awarded at the world’s prestigious film festivals: Paris, Texas (1984) won the Palme d’or in Cannes, The State of Things (1982) won the Golden Lion in Venice, Million Dollar Hotel (2000) won the Silver Bear in Berlin. His three documents – Buena Vista Social Club (1999), Pina (2011) a The Salt of the Earth (2014) were nominated to the Oscars. Wim Wenders is an acknowledged  photographer and painter, too. His photographs were exhibited in the most influential galleries of the world (Centre Pompidou Paris, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Musem Kunstpalast Düsseldorf).

Cinematik International Film Festival is honored (after introducing The Salt of the Earth at the 10th anniversary opening) to hold a retrospective of highly appreciated work of Wim Wenders. Eleven of his movies – from the oldest ones to the one from 2015 – will be played to present his work. From movies shot on the classic 35 mm material to those ones on the video and 3D digital format, Wim Wenders hasn’t lost any of his modern visions in 40 years of his film making career. Even today, he keeps on discovering new ways of narrating a movie.

I don’t know about you, but I am delighted.

Vladimír Štric

Organised in cooperation with Goethe Institut Bratislava

We would like to thank Jana Binder and Zuzana Beniačová (Goethe Institut Bratislava), Christine Rennert (Neue Roadmovie Berlín), Claire Brunel (Wim Wenders Stiftung, Düsseldorf), and Johannes Klein (Festival Agency) for their help.