New Delhi, Jan 14 (Representative) Close on the heels of IFFK-2024, film enthusiasts in Kerala will get an incredible opportunity to watch a package of 18 films of German master Wim Wenders on February 10 and 11, as part of the Thiruvananthapuram leg of “Wim Wenders – King of the Road – The India Tour.” The celebrated film-maker will be in the city during these days, and engage with the film fraternity, scholars, and students. The tour is planned by the Film Heritage Foundation, in association with the Wim Wenders Stiftung (Wim Wenders Foundation) and Goethe-Institute, with the latter partnering with Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) and Kerala Chalachitra Academy for the screening of Wender’s films. The package, comprising Wenders’ classics including short films and documentaries, will be screened at KSFDC-owned Kairali, Sree, and Nila Complex in the city. The films have been meticulously curated by Wim Wenders in association with the Film Heritage Foundation. The screenings are open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. The unique 25-day retrospective tour, beginning on February 5 in Mumbai, also covers Kolkata, New Delhi, and Pune. Known as a pioneer of the New German Cinema of the 1970s, Wim Wenders is one of the leading figures of contemporary world cinema. The work of the screenwriter, director, producer, photographer, and author includes multiple award-winning feature-length and documentary films, photo exhibitions presented worldwide, as well as numerous photo books, film books, and text collections. His films PARIS, TEXAS (1984), and Wings of Desire (1987) are part of the international canon of film heritage, as are his innovative documentaries Pina Buena Vista Social Club and The Salt of The Earth. His two most recent films had their world premiere at the Festival de Cannes in 2023: Anselm, his documentary film in 3D about the artist Anselm Kiefer, and his Japanese feature film Perfect Days, for which lead actor Kōji Yakusho received the award for Best Actor in Cannes.
Perfect Days became Wenders’ internationally most successful film and was nominated for an Oscar in the “International Feature Film” category in 2024. The 18 films, short films and docu-fictions to be screened as part of the film tour are The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1971), Alice in the Cities (1973), Kings of the Road (1975), The American Friend (1977), Lightning Over Water (1980), Reverse Angle (1982), Room 666 (1982), The State of Things (1982), Paris, Texas (1984), Tokyo-Ga (1985), Wings of Desire (1987), Until the End of the World – Director’s Cut (1994), The End of Violence (1997), Buena Vista Social Club (1999), The Million Dollar Hotel (2000), Don’t Come Knocking (2005), Pina (3D) (2011) and Anselm (3D) (2023). Looking forward to his India tour with great excitement, Wim Wenders said: “In all my travels around the world over the years, it seems astonishing that somehow, India fell off the map, not just because it is a country with an abundance of landscapes and images to explore, but also because it is a country where cinema is like a religion.” “I have known of the Film Heritage Foundation’s dedication to preserving, restoring, and bringing India’s precious film heritage back to contemporary audiences, so I was very happy when I was invited to come to India for a retrospective of my films.
I am excited to have the opportunity to travel across the country and present my films,” he added. Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, of Film Foundation, said “It’s a dream come true for the Film Heritage Foundation to have Wim Wenders, one of the greatest masters of world cinema come to India to support the foundation and to be able to mount a retrospective on a scale that attempts to showcase the breadth and depth of a career of over 50 years in almost every form of cinema.” Dr Syed Ibrahim, Director, Goethe-Zentrum, Trivandrum, said this event is sure to be received enthusiastically by the discerning film lovers of Kerala, and of the capital city in particular. Goethe-Institut is Germany’s cultural institute promoting language and cultural exchange worldwide. Film Heritage Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Mumbai dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and exhibition of India’s film heritage. A member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), the Film Heritage Foundation is India’s only non-governmental organization working in the field of film preservation. It has so far preserved about 700 films on celluloid and has an archive of about 200,000 objects of film-related memorabilia including cameras, projectors, posters, song booklets, lobby cards, books, and magazines. The films restored and preserved by the Film Foundation include gems of Indian cinema including G Aravindan’s Malayalam films “Kummatty” and “Thamp̄”, Aribam Syam Sharma’s Manipuri film “Ishanou”, Shyam Benegal’s “Manthan”, Nirad Mohapatra’s Odia film “Maya Miriga” and Girish Kasaravalli’s “Ghatashraddha”. The Wim Wenders Stiftung, a public foundation based in Düsseldorf/Germany, was established to create a framework to bring together the cinematic, photographic, artistic, and literary lifework of Wim Wenders, and to make it permanently accessible to the public worldwide.