THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Wim Wenders, the celebrated German master of cinema, will arrive in Thiruvananthapuram in February as part of the five-city ‘King of the Road - India Tour’ that will see the screening of 16 of his iconic works and interactions.
The visit is being organised by the Film Heritage Foundation, Wim Wenders Foundation, the Max Mueller Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram, and the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC).
The screening in Thiruvananthapuram will be held at the Kairali theatre complex on February 10 and 11 in the presence of the master. Wim, who is on his first visit to India, will also be visiting Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, and Delhi from February 5 to 22.
A pioneer of ‘New German Cinema’ of the 1970s, Wim is a highly decorated filmmaker having won the Palme D’Or, the Golden Lion, and the BAFTA, and being nominated for the Academy Awards several times. His famous works include Paris, Texas (1984), Wings of Desire (1987), The Buena Vista Social Club (1999), Pina (2011) and the recent Perfect Days (2023).
Wim’s India visit is being seen with enthusiasm by not just film professionals but also film students for whom he will take master classes. The master himself has expressed a desire for such interactions.
“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,” says Wim.
“I am excited to have the opportunity to travel across the country and present my films, and who knows what will emerge from my time on the road in India?”
Film Heritage Foundation head Shivendra Singh Dungarpur believes Wim’s India visit “is going to be an adventure of a lifetime”. “He is not just a filmmaker but a poet and a thinker of cinema who has influenced generations of filmmakers,” says Shivendra.
The 16 films to be shown here of the master, known for his road films, will include features, shorts, and documentaries. The series will span a body of his works from the The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1972) to the 2023 one, Anselm, a 3D documentary. The screenings will be open to the public, and Wim will also interact with film professionals.
The package will include the film Kings of the Road, which is about friendship between two men — a film projector mechanic and a psychologist. The other picks in the package are Alice in the Cities, the first of a trilogy in which he discovered the genre of road films.
It also includes Until the End of the World — Director’s Cut, termed the ultimate road film — a journey around the globe bearing similarities to Homer’s saga.
“The films show his craft and that they are being shown here presents an opportunity for Indian filmmakers and students to explore the genre in depth where images are dealt with as events to introspect or derive from,” says film researcher Ashwin Sundar.