Wim Wenders is considered one of the most important representatives of contemporary cinema. In addition to multi-award-winning feature films, such as
Paris,
Texas and
Wings of Desire, he has also created several innovative documentaries, among them the Oscar-nominated
Buena Vista Social Club,
PINA or
The Salt of the Earth. His works in Japan include
Tokyo-Ga,
Notebook on Cities and Clothes and the photo project
Journey to Onomichi. Wenders is a director, producer, photographer and author; his photographic work has been exhibited in museums around the world. He has published numerous photography books and collections of essays. He and his wife Donata Wenders live in Berlin. In 2012, they founded the non-profit Wim Wenders Foundation that brings together his life’s work by making it permanently accessible to the public and by helping young filmmakers with the Wim Wenders Grant for innovative storytelling. He worked on a feature film in conjunction with THE TOKYO TOILET, a highly awarded design and art project that features public facilities designed by
Tadao Ando and other architects, part of the city's ongoing renewal process.
Wim Wenders came to international prominence as one of the pioneers of the New German Cinema during the 1970’s and is now considered to be one of the most important representatives of contemporary cinema. In addition to his many feature films, his work as a scriptwriter, director, producer, photographer and author also encompasses an abundance of innovative documentary films, international photo exhibitions and numerous monographs, film books and essay collections.
His career as a filmmaker began with his debut feature
The Goalies’ Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1971), after which Wenders turned to shooting his “road movie trilogy”,
Alice in the Cities (1974),
Wrong Move (1975) and
King of the Road (1976), in which the protagonists try to come to terms, among other things, with their rootlessness in post-war Germany.
His international breakthrough came with
The American Friend (1977). Since then Wenders has continued to work both in Europe and the USA as well as in Latin America and Asia and has been honored with countless awards at festivals around the world, including: the Golden Palm for
Paris, Texas (1984); the Director’s Prize in Cannes for
Wings of Desire (1987); the Golden Lion in Venice for
The State of Things (1982); and the Silver Bear for
The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) at the Berlin International Film Festival. His documentary films
Buena Vista Social Club (1999),
PINA (2011), and
The Salt of the Earth (2014) have all been nominated for an Oscar.
Wenders’ works in Japan include
Tokyo-Ga (1985),
Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989) and the photo project
Journey to Onomichi (2009).
The medium of photography has accompanied Wenders’ artistic work from the beginning. The starting point for the pursuit of an independent body of photographic work was the photo series
Written in the West. It came into being during the preparations for his film
Paris, Texas, on Wenders’ journey crisscrossing the American West. His second large photo exhibition
Pictures from the Surface of the Earth lead Wenders to countries such as Australia, Cuba, Israel, Armenia, and Japan – always in search of images that seek to capture the essence of a place. Wenders’ photographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the entire world since 1986.
In 2019, Wenders presented a monumental cinematographic installation based on his film work titled
(E)Motion, projected onto the interior structure of the Nave of the Grand Palais in Paris.
TWO OR THREE THINGS I KNOW ABOUT EDWARD HOPPER, a 3D film installation by Wim Wenders premiered in the beginning of 2020 as part of the exhibition Edward Hopper in the Fondation Beyeler. His 3D installation
Présence about French artist Claudine Drai premiered at the Venice Art Biennale in April 2022.
Among other awards and positions, Wenders holds honorary doctorates from the Sorbonne in Paris, the Faculty of Theology at the University of Fribourg, the University of Louvain, the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Catania and a doctor of letters of the University of Oxford. Wim Wenders and his wife Donata Wenders live in Berlin. In 2012, they founded the non-profit Wim Wenders Foundation that brings together his life’s work by making it permanently accessible to the public and by helping young filmmakers with the Wim Wenders Grant for innovative storytelling.
He worked on a feature film in conjunction with THE TOKYO TOILET, a highly awarded design and art project that features public facilities designed by
Tadao Ando and other architects, part of the city's ongoing renewal process. The leading character will be played by Koji Yakusho.
