WIM WENDERS

WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER

Wim Wenders ranks among the important directors of world cinema and is one of the leading representatives of " New German Film." Undeterred by fleeting trends and big studio offers he has stuck to his guns and kept his eagerness to experiment.

Born in Düsseldorf on 14 August 1945, he started taking photographs at the age of 7, owned his own darkroom at 12 and at 17 his first Leica. He studied medicine and philosophy before settling in 1966 as a painter and engraver in Montparnasse, Paris. In his spare time, he watched all the movies that were showing at the Cinémathèque, including many German classics. He laid the foundation for his career as a filmmaker in 1967, when he enrolled at the newly founded "Academy of Film and Television" in Munich. In the late 60s he made several short films, which were influenced by the so-called "New American Underground" in the style of Warhol: long scenes, uneventful and with an open narrative. His feature film debut was in 1970 with his graduation film, the black and white film SUMMER IN THE CITY.

Wim Wenders was one of the 15 directors and writers who in 1971 founded the Film Verlag der Autoren to handle production, rights and distribution of their films, both together and independently. His professional career as a director began that year with the film adaptation of Peter Handke's novel THE GOALKEEPER'S FEAR OF THE PENALTY for which he was awarded the Prize of the International Film Critics in Venice.

In ALICE IN THE CITIES (1973), THE WRONG MOVE (1974) and KINGS OF THE ROAD (1975) Wim Wenders turns to characters who have to deal with their lack of roots in post-war Germany and is awarded several German and international film prizes. These three films, as well as the thriller THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977, by Patricia Highsmith) with Dennis Hopper and Bruno Ganz in the lead roles, grappled with the rapid change of his own country.

Wim Wenders 'extraordinary love for the cinema and rock n ' roll, coupled with the affectionate curiosity of the observer to the world that surrounds us, runs to this day through the entirety of his work. THE AMERICAN FRIEND makes him known in the U.S., resulting in his next project with Francis Ford Coppola who in 1978 invited Wenders to the U.S. He started to work on HAMMETT for Zoetrope Studios. The movie was meant to be a tribute to the American crime writer Dashiell Hammett, but the lengthy artistic disputes meant that the film was not finished until 1982. The conflicts that Wim Wenders had to endure during the difficult production process, he worked out in STATE OF THINGS (1982), a somber reflection on filmmaking. For this film Wenders receives the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival.

Together with Sam Shepard he discovered his next story in the Texas desert: a speechless man, apparently without memory, searches for a link to his past. With the road movie PARIS, TEXAS (with Nastassja Kinski and Harry Dean Stanton), the director won, amongst others, the 1984 Golden Palm at Cannes and the Best Director award of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

In the divided Berlin, in 1987, the angels of the city gave him the film WINGS OF DESIRE. The cinematic fairytale with Bruno Ganz as an angel, who for the love of a woman gives up his immortality, continues his previous worldwide success. In Cannes, he won the award for Best Director, as well as the European Film Award and the German Film Prize. In 1990 Wenders realizes his ambitious science fiction project, which had been in planning for 12 years: UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD. The film cost well over $ 20 million and was filmed around the world on four continents. But forced by distribution contracts, Wenders has to release the film in a shortened version. His own "Director's Cut" will not be released for another 12 years.
With Bruno Ganz, Otto Sander, Peter Falk and other stars, in 1993 Wenders filmed in reunified Berlin the continuation of his angel story: FARAWAY, SO CLOSE! This was followed by a second long stay in America, which began in 1996 with THE END OF VIOLENCE.

In 2000 Wenders directed in Los Angeles a tragic-comic story by U2 singer Bono. With THE MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL Wenders created a story of friendship, betrayal and the overwhelming power of unconditional love. At the Berlinale he was honored with the Silver Bear.

Throughout his career Wenders shot a number of unconventional documentaries, including LIGHTNING OVER WATER (1980), a moving portrayal about and with Nicholas Ray, followed by TOKYO-GA (1985), a tribute to the Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu whose film "Tokyo Story" has had a lasting influence on Wenders, and NOTEBOOK ON CITIES AND CLOTHES (1989), an exploration of the work of the avant-garde fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto. He also directed several music videos and the concert film WILLIE NELSON AT TEATRO (1998).

Without doubt, his best-known observation of music and musicians is the documentary BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB (1999). In this loving portrait Ry Cooder rediscovers Cuban musicians, among them Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzales and Company Segundo. The film even received an Oscar nomination. THE SOUL OF A MAN, a film about his blues heroes Blind Willie Johnson, JB Lenoir and Skip James, followed. In 2002 Wenders made a film about his friend Wolfgang Niedecken and his Cologne band ODE TO COLOGNE – A ROCK 'N' ROLL FILM. The long-standing friendship with the Düsseldorf band "Die Toten Hosen" eventually leads to the feature film PALERMO SHOOTING, with Campino and Dennis Hopper in the lead roles. In 2008 he is with this film in competition for the ninth time at the Cannes Film Festival.

In 1987 he published his first book, "Written in the West", with photographs from the American West. To date, numerous other books followed, including essays, photo books and accompanying publications for his films and exhibitions, including the book "Pictures from the Surface of the Earth". Museums and galleries around the world have shown his photographs in solo exhibitions. In the 1990s Wim Wenders became first chairman and later president of the European Film Academy.

Since 2003 he teaches as a professor at the College of Fine Arts in Hamburg. He received honorary doctorates from the Faculté des Arts et des Lettres of Sorbonne, Paris; the theological faculty of the University of Fribourg in Switzerland; the Université Catholique de Louvain in France; and the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Catania. In 2006, Wenders was the first filmmaker of the Order "Pour le Mérite". He lives with his wife, photographer Donata Wenders, in Berlin and has his own production company "Neue Road Movies ".

SHORTS
1967 Schauplätze
1967 Same Player Shoots Again
1968 Silver City
1968 Polizeifilm
1969 Alabama: 2000 Light Years From Home
1969 3 American LP's
1974 Aus der Familie der Panzerechsen / Die Insel
1982 Reverse Angle
1982 Chambre 666 (Room 666)
1992 Arisha, the Bear and Stone Ring
2002 Twelve Miles to Trona
(Ten Minutes Older – The Trumpet)
2007 Los Invisibles: Invisible Crimes
2007 War in Peace
2008 Person to Person ("8"– Compilation)
2009 Il Volo (3D)
2010 If Buildings Could Talk
(3D video installation)

FEATURES and DOCUMENTARIES
1970 SUMMER IN THE CITY
(dedicated to the Kinks)
1971 THE GOALKEEPER'S FEAR OF THE PENALTY
1972 THE SCARLET LETTER
1973 ALICE IN THE CITIES
1975 THE WRONG MOVE
1976 KINGS OF THE ROAD
THE AMERICAN FRIEND
1980 LIGHTNING OVER WATER
1982 HAMMETT

1982 THE STATE OF THINGS
1984 PARIS, TEXAS
1985 TOKYO-GA
1987 WINGS OF DESIRE
1989 NOTEBOOK ON CITIES AND CLOTHES
1991 UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD
1993 FARAWAY, SO CLOSE!
1994 LISBON STORY
1995 BEYOND THE CLOUDS
(with M. Antonioni)
1996 A TRICK OF THE LIGHT
(the Brothers Skladanowsky)
1997 THE END OF VIOLENCE
1998 BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB
1989 WILLIE NELSON AT THE TEATRO
2000 THE MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL
2002 ODE TO COLOGNE: A ROCK 'N' ROLL FILM
2003 THE SOUL OF A MAN
(part four of The Blues Series)
2003 LAND OF PLENTY
2004 DON'T COME KNOCKING
2008 PALERMO SHOOTING
2011 PINA (3D)

GIAN-PIERO RINGEL

PRODUCER

Gian-Piero Ringel studied psychology and business administration at the Free University of Berlin. Whilst at university he worked as a production assistant and production manager on various film productions. From 2002 to 2006, Ringel continued his studies at the German Film and Television Academy (dffb) concentrating on Production. While still a student he founded his own company, RINGEL Film Produktion in 2004. In 2006 he produced the short film THE MEASURE OF THINGS, directed by Sven Bohse, which was nominated for the 33rd Annual Student Academy Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. That same year, Ringel together with Angela Schanelec (writer, director, producer) produced his first feature film AFTERNOON. It had its world premiere in 2007 at the Forum of the Berlinale. Together with Wim Wenders Ringel then produced his first international production PALERMO SHOOTING, which was selected for the official competition of the Cannes Film Festival 2008. In 2009 followed Angela Schanelec's new feature film ORLY, which premiered in the Berlinale Forum, and in the same year was awarded "Best Film" at the Festival of German Films in Ludwigshafen. Today, Gian-Piero Ringel, together with Wim Wenders, is joint managing partner of Neue Road Movies GmbH and producer of the 3D dance movie PINA.

ALAIN DEROBE

STEREOGRAPHER

From 1966 to 1990 Alain Derobe worked as a cameraman and was involved in more than 20 features and numerous commercials. From 1992 on, he specialised in three-dimensional photography and large format cinema. He developed various systems that are required for stereoscopic recordings (such as the 3D Rig by P&S Technik). Alain Derobe is the founder of the AFC (Association of French Cameramen) and President of UP3D, the Association of French Stereographers. As a stereographer he was involved in many French 3D films, including SAFARI 3D, CAMARGUE, CHARTREUX, IRRUPTION, HÉROS DE NIMES, RÉVEIL DES GÉANTS, as well as films for theme parks, museums and events. Today, Alain Derobe, is one of the European pioneers of the 3D cinema, primarily active as a stereographer. Additionally, he also advises various companies in the 3D field, such as Transvideo (monitors) or Iridas (software).

HÉLÈNE LOUVART

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Since 1989 Hélène Louvart has worked as a cinematographer, both in features and documentaries. Since 1989, she was behind the camera on more than 17 documentaries and 40 feature films. Her first international success came at the side of director Sandrine Veysset in 1996 with the film WILL IT SNOW FOR CHRISTMAS? The film received, among others, the FIPRESCI Prize at the Viennale 1996 and the Special Jury Prize at the Paris Film Festival. Hélène Louvart and Sandrine Veysset continued their successful collaboration during in the following years, including in 2000 with MARTHA ... MARTHA. For director Jacques Doillon Louvart shot the feature film RAJA, which was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2004. In 2008 Hélène Louvart collaborated on the memoirs of the director Agnes Varda. This movie, called THE BEACHES OF AGNES, received both the César and the Etoile d'Or 2009 in the category "Best Documentary".

FRANÇOIS GARNIER

3D SUPERVISOR

François Garnier is one of the pioneers of European computer graphics. As one of the first media designers in France, he explored the creative possibilities of this technology. Between 1984 and 1989 he designed and developed numerous award-winning productions. He also worked with renowned video artists of experimental films and installations. In 2000, Garnier was one of the founders of the Amak Studios. This company designs and produces films, digital art installations and interactive programs for museums, theme parks and international events. The Amak Studios set the standard for stereoscopic films and interactive installations in real-time and 3D in Europe. Garnier is also a professor at the Ecole Nationale Superieur des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. François Garnier is involved as 3D Supervisor in Wim Wenders 3D dance movie PINA.

ERWIN M. SCHMIDT

3D PRODUCER

From 2000 to 2005 Erwin M. Schmidt studied production at the German Film and Television Academy (dffb). From 2004 he was involved as line producer in a number of international art-house films. Amongst them YOU, THE LIVING by Roy Andersson (Sweden), DELTA by Kornel Mundruczo (Hungary), Angela Schanelec's ORLY and WOMEN WITHOUT MEN, the first feature film of the Tehran-born artist Shirin Neshat. With her, Erwin Schmidt also worked on video installations from the series WOMEN WITHOUT MEN. Since 2008, Erwin Schmidt has been working for Neue Road Movies and as 3D Producer for PINA. He also produced Wenders 3D video installation IF BUILDINGS COULD TALK ..., which premiered in August 2010 at the Architecture Biennale in Venice. In addition to his production work, Schmidt coordinates "CineLink Work in Progress" at the Sarajevo Film Festival in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

TONI FROSCHHAMMER

EDITOR

Toni (Thomas) Froschhammer worked as a musician and music producer for bands like Em Loomes or Frisky Sisco in his own recording studio. From 2001 to 2006 he worked as an editor for the Berlin post-production company "FX Factory" and in 2002 took on first directing projects. In 2007 Froschhammer went independent with the company "Schnittbar". He worked mostly in advertising for Vodafone, LBS, Renault and T-Mobile, but also edited music videos for bands such as Rammstein, Depeche Mode, Rosenstolz, and Die Fantastischen Vier, as well as short films such as DANGLE, KURZFASSEN and FROM UP TILL DOWN. In 2009 he founded "Froschhammer Film GmbH" and begins editing the 3D dance film PINA by Wim Wenders. Since October 2010 he has worked with Pepe Danquart on the documentary JOSCHKA FISCHER- DER LETZTE ROCK'N'ROLLER DER POLITIK.

THOM HANREICH

COMPOSER

For two decades the ECHO Award winner Thom Hanreich has been working as a successful singer, songwriter, composer and producer. He has released three albums with his band "Vivid", and two solo albums under his stage name "Thom". They brought him, among other things, a top 5 hit in Japan and an Asian tour. Since then he has worked worldwide as a composer and songwriter. Thom already composed the soundtracks for Wim Wenders' LAND OF PLENTY and songs for PALERMO SHOOTING, as well as the music for the short film WAR IN PEACE. In 2010 Thom worked on his new solo album, composed music for Wenders contribution to the Biennale film IF BUILDINGS COULD TALK ... about the Rolex Learning Center of the architect Kazujo Sejima, and wrote music for the 3D dance movie PINA. Hanreich lives in Berlin.

PETER PABST

ART DIRECTOR

Peter Pabst is used to crossing boundaries. Since 1979 he has been a freelancing set and costume designer in theatre, opera, dance, film and television, and up to now has created stage sets and costumes for more than 100 theatre and film productions, including the Rock Show "Dröhnland Symphony ", the exhibition "Spaces - Dreams " at the Museum Bochum, the book "PETER for PINA", and has taught in Beijing and Shanghai. His work has taken him to almost all major European cities, to America, and Asia. He has worked with Luc Bondy, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Udo Lindenberg, John Schaaf, Istvan Szabo, Jürgen Flimm, Robert Carsen, Chen Shi Zheng, Tancred Dorst, Andrei Serban and many others. But his main working partners have been Peter Zadek, with whom he has a long working relationship and personal friendship, and above all, Pina Bausch and her Tanztheater Wuppertal. In 1980 he designed his first set for a piece by Pina Bausch. This was the beginning of an exceptionally close artistic and personal relationship, a symbiotic collaboration that lasted until the death of the great choreographer in 2009. During these years, Peter Pabst designed and realised 25 "play-rooms" for Pina Bausch, including "VOLLMOND (Full Moon)". Peter Pabst has been awarded the Kainz Medal of the City of Vienna, has been appointed Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in France, and awarded the title of Professor by the Minister President of NRW.

DOMINIQUE MERCY

ARTISTIC CONSULTANT

Born in 1950 in the Dordogne, Dominique Mercy discovered his love for dance as a teenager. He was just fifteen years old when he entered the company of the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux . After three years, he joined the Ballet Theatre Contemporain in Amiens, where the director was looking for a connection between dance, visual art and music – a similar concept as at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, where the young Pina Bausch had been trained. Dominique Mercy and Pina Bausch met in 1971 at the Saratoga Summer Festival in the U.S., where the dancer was teaching. For the 1973/74 season she hired him for her newly established ballet in Wuppertal, which she soon named Tanztheater. Since then, Mercy has been connected to the Wuppertal Tanztheater. He left the ensemble several times in order to undertake his own projects, and among other things, he and the dancer Malou Airaudo founded their own ensemble. Mercy, however, kept coming back to Wuppertal. After the death of Pina Bausch, Dominique Mercy together with Robert Sturm, the Assistant Director of the choreographer, took over the artistic direction of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.

ROBERT STURM

ARTISTIC CONSULTANT

The beginning of his professional work in the theatre initially led Robert Sturm to Hungary. There he worked from 1993, first as assistant director and dramatist at the newly formed Budapest Art Theatre and then at the Thalia Theatre. From 1997 he began to make his own stage productions, at the Szigligeti Theatre in Szolnok and at the Chamber Theatre and at the New Theatre in Budapest. Two years later, the National Theatre Institute in Budapest asked him to assist Pina Bausch and her dancers during their research for their Hungarian-piece "Wiesenland". This was followed by the offer of Pina Bausch to accompany the rehearsals of the piece in Wuppertal. Starting in 2000, he was hired as her artistic assistant at the Tanztheater Wuppertal. After the sudden death of Pina Bausch, Robert Sturm, together with the dancer Dominique Mercy, took on the role of artistic leadership of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.

MARION CITO

COSTUMES

Since 1980, Marion Cito has been designing the costumes for the ensemble of Tanztheater Wuppertal. Originally from Berlin and a dancer herself, she knows what the costumes have to endure during the dances from personal experience. As a principal dancer at the Deutsche Oper, she worked with the choreographer Tatjana Gsovsky. She also appeared in productions by George Balanchine, Antony Tudor and John Cranko. In 1976 Marion Cito joined the Tanztheater Wuppertal. For health reasons she did not want continue to dance, but concentrate on work as an assistant. However, Pina Bausch convinced her to take part as a dancer in pieces such as "Blaubart – beim Anhören einer Tonbandaufnahme von Béla Bartok's Oper ‚Herzog Blaubarts Burg'", "Komm – tanz mit mir", "Renate wandert aus" and "Arien" In cooperation with Pina Bausch's costume and set designer Rolf Borzik, Marion Cito discovered her passion for costumes. When he died in 1980, Pina Bausch asked her to take on the costume department. Marion Cito took over the new role as designer, and a few months later the first production with her costumes "1980 - A piece by Pina Bausch" premiered.

ROLF BORZIK

SET AND COSTUME DESIGN UNTIL 1980

Rolf Borzik was born in 1944 in Posen and died in 1980 in Essen. He studied graphic art and design at the Folkwang Hochschule, where he met dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch. From 1973 until his untimely death, he designed the sets and costumes for the Tanztheater Wuppertal and thus decisively shaped its face. Borzik designed extraordinary sets and clothes: as poetic as contemporary and deeply rooted in life itself. He kept playing with natural elements (water, earth, etc.), his costumes seem from everyday life and are at once elegant and opulent. Through his work, he opened an entirely new perspective on dance space and clothing, a style icon far beyond his death. The sets and costumes for the recorded pieces in PINA "Le Sacre du Printemps", "Café Müller" and "Kontakthof" are designs by Rolf Borzik.