Wim Wenders to be Guest of the Budapest Classics Film Marathon

Wim Wenders, a leading figure in contemporary European cinema, will be the guest of honor at the Budapest Classics Film Marathon in September, the National Film Institute announced on Wednesday.

Twelve of the world-famous German filmmaker’s works will be shown on the big screen in restored versions, including classics such as Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire. Wim Wenders will receive the 2024 International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) Award in Budapest for promoting the importance of film preservation.

Since 2001, the FIAF has annually honored outstanding film personalities who are committed to preserving the world’s film heritage and who support and promote the preservation of film archives.

Previous recipients of the FIAF Awards include Martin Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman, Peter Bogdanovich, Liv Ullmann, Agnès Varda, Christopher Nolan, Jean-Luc Godard, Tilda Swinton and Guillermo del Toro.

The awards gala will take place in Budapest in September as part of the Film Marathon at the Uránia National Film Theater.

Wim Wenders is an significant pioneer of the new German cinema of the 1970s and one of the most important representatives of contemporary universal cinema. He is one of the few directors to have won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and the Golden Lion at Venice. In addition to his award-winning feature films, he has also been active as a screenwriter, director, producer, photographer and writer, and has produced a number of innovative documentaries worldwide. He is a founding member of the European Film Academy and was its President from 1996 to 2020. In 2015 he was awarded the Honorary Golden Bear Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Berlinale and in 2022 he received the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association.

In 7th Budapest Classics Film Marathon will present twelve films by Wim Wenders from the early 1990s to the present day.

The selection starts with the early-period road movie Alice in the Cities, and then includes classics such as the Cannes Director’s Prize and European Film Award winner Wings of Desire and the 1984 Palme d’Or winner Paris, Texas. The program also includes his rarely seen films, including 1977’s The American Friend, marking an international breakthrough for the director.

Wenders’ work is particularly concerned with filmmaking, and his films often speak to film history and heritage. In addition to his feature films on such themes (The State of Things, The End of Violence), the Film Marathon audience will also be able to see his important documentaries on film history in September. Tokyo-Ga is a tribute to the Japanese master director Yasujirō Ozu, Lightning Over Water is a farewell to Nicholas Ray, and Room 666 is a work reflecting on the transformation of film culture.

The Budapest Classics Film Marathon will take place from September 17 to 22, with screenings at the Uránia National Film Theater, Toldi Cinema, the French Institute in Budapest and the Budapest Music Center, as well as outdoor screenings on St. Stephen’s Square in front of St. Stephen’s Basilica.

Via MTI; Featured image via Facebook/Wim Wenders Foundation