Polaroids, Pinball Machines, Pool Tables
Polaroids are related to watercolors,
they are closer to painting than to photography.
For me and many others, Polaroids
were an extension of painting. I like the fact
that there’s no negative – just the single picture.
(Wim Wenders: The Wenders-Alphabet: From A to Z. In: Einstellungen, Atlas Film/Verlag der Autoren, 1993, pg. 22)
Viva the long summer days and the art of photography! But let’s leave the August heat behind for a moment and take a look at what the future holds in store:
Let’s begin from our foundation headquarters in Düsseldorf, where the Wim Wenders Grant of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW will be awarded for the fifth consecutive year on September 27th. The following day, current and former grant recipients will come together once again to take part in a colloquium. To date, a total of 17 projects from young filmmakers have won over the jury chaired by Wim Wenders and received funding for the development of their material.
In Berlin, the exhibition “Wim Wenders: Instant Stories” is still on display until September 23rd at C/O Berlin. Both the Polaroid show and the accompanying cinema program were developed in close collaboration with the Wim Wenders Stiftung.
The German capital greets us also with WINGS OF DESIRE. After a successful re-release in cinemas in 4K, a Blu-ray Collector’s Edition of the restored version of the film – featuring a wealth of bonus material – is now available for purchase.
We’re soon about to travel to Pergola (Italy), where Wim will be accepting this year’s prize from Animavì – International Film Festival of Poetic Animation, then on to Frankfurt for a carte-blanche film program at Deutsches Filmmuseum (October) and finally Switzerland, where he will be honored with the “A Tribute to…” Award at Zürich Film Festival (October 6th). Planning is already underway for retrospectives and exhibitions in Austria and France next year.
We are delighted to announce further co-operations and alliances, especially in the area of supporting talented young filmmakers and film scholars. In Cologne, the foundation is developing a new masterclass format with the city’s ifs and KHM film academies. On top of that, we are also working on a Wim Wenders film edition for use in schools and follow the formation of the future “Wim Wenders Gymnasium” in Wim’s hometown of Düsseldorf.
The foundation’s commitment extends to diverse spaces elsewhere: at the invitation of Vision Kino, Wim Wenders will be participating in a panel discussion entitled Film – a Language without Borders? at the organization’s annual conference on November 22nd, alongside representatives from the British Film Institute and the Danish Film Institute. And of course the “European idea” will once span its roof over the European Film Awards, to be presented on December 15th in Seville.Wim Wenders will be present as president of the European Film Academy.
Three films were released in 2018 and come out in different territories: WINGS OF DESIRE will be coming to theaters in the USA starting October 19th. After the releases in Germany and the US, POPE FRANCIS – A MAN OF HIS WORD will open in France on September 12th and in Italy and Spain towards the end of the month. And at the beginning of August, we celebrated the German premiere of SUBMERGENCE at Berlin’s Kino International.
Just cooling off quickly from the sweltering summer before getting back to work on our many exciting projects!
Photo: Polaroid from: Alice in Instant Wonderland. In: Wim Wenders: Instant Stories, Schirmer/Mosel 2017, pg. 146 © Wim Wenders Stiftung