“People around the globe have seen my films, many have been influenced by them, and some of these films have become classics or cult films. In this sense they no longer belong to me anyways, but instead to a collective memory of cinema-goers of every age and many nationalities. It has been my desire for many years that in the future my work might belong only to itself, and thus to everyone. There is now a realistic and unique opportunity for this dream to come true.”

In the fall of 2012 this desire began to be fulfilled. The establishment of the Wim Wenders Foundation in Düsseldorf created a legally binding framework to bring together the cinematic, photographic, artistic and literary lifework of Wim Wenders in his native country and to make it permanently accessible to the general public worldwide.

The non-profit foundation model ensures that the whole body of work remains beyond the reach of any form of private self-interest. All revenues are used to finance the foundation’s main purposes: preserving, maintaining, researching and disseminating the work of Wim Wenders, promoting young talent in the field of innovative cinematic storytelling and imparting film knowledge to young audiences.