This has been the visit of Wim Wenders to the BCN Film Fest 2023

Barcelona vibrates. Not only because tomorrow is Sant Jordi and no one can ignore the growing presence of roses and books on the street. Barcelona vibrates, because it has received a cinephile discharge in the last two days such that the scarpies have yet to come back to stay like hairs (wink, wink, and here are some essential books to give to a movie buff).

The BCN Film Fest has decided to put a good slice of meat on the grill for its first weekend (the event dedicated to the best films based on books and novels continues until the 28th), opening with François Ozon and ‘My Crime’, along with Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Rebecca Marderboth promises fulfilled by French-speaking cinema today. Penélope Wilton presented yesterday ‘Harold’s Journey’, Pablo Maqueda and Elena Trapé They have already screened ‘La desconocida’ and ‘Els encantats’…

Furthermore, we know that Omar Sy and Susan Sarandon are already in Barcelona —he presents ‘Father and Soldier’ ​​on Thursday, she receives the Sant Jordi Cinematography Award on Monday—, and the street notices that. Those surrounding Casa Fuster, where interviews and various calls are held, move with a particular agitation these days.

And now, the photo.

This is Conxita Casanovas, director of the BCN Film Fest. He is Wim Wenders, one of the most restless representatives of the so-called New German Cinema, one of those total artists for whom cinema is simply another way of expression. In fact, in his early days he was more interested in painting and photography, two passions that he has not abandoned yet. His prize shelf is complete: Palme d’Or, Golden Lion, Honorary Golden Bear, Honorary Leopard and three Oscar nominationsalways in the documentary category.

The snapshot takes place a few hours after he received the BCN Film Fest Honorary Award, which has dedicated an entire section (the “Essentials”) to the work of the German master. There you can see the best films of director Wim Wenders… They are ‘The American Friend’ (1977), ‘Paris, Texas’ (1984), ‘The Sky Over Berlin’ (1987), ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ (1999), ‘Pina’ (2011). Also the debut ‘The goalkeeper’s fear before the penalty’ (1971), ‘Alice in the cities’ (1974), ‘The state of things’ (1982), ‘So far, so close!’ (1993) and two films by the late Wenders: ‘Until the End of the World’ (the director’s cut, hardly accessible) from 1994 and ‘The Million Dollar Hotel’, from 2000. If you have read with a notebook nearby, you should have it already. full of homework. Think that here are some of the best films in the history of cinema.

The sympathy of the gesture between Casanovas and Wenders does not surprise us: the German filmmaker is preceded by the fame of good people. In fact, on Thursday he collects the award from him while apologizing: he admits that he does not feel deserving of the award because “films have their own life and identity and belong to the public”, not to their director. Brief but excited, he leaves for the talk he gave yesterday afternoon at the Blanquerna University (a sold out absolute) the juicy details about his methods and filmography.

He has had, on the one hand, words for the past. For his usual collaborators, the Austrian Peter Handke and the American Sam Shepard, whom he considers “writers”, not scriptwriters. Wenders also recalled his beginnings, and how remote cinema was for him: “As a child I wanted to be a painter, an architect, a priest, a writer, a musician and in the end I chose painting. In fact, I was a painter when I made my first film, and I realized that the movies included everything I wanted to do in my life.”

Then, he dedicated a few words to the filmmaker Carlos Saura, recently deceased and a declared fan of the German: “For me, Saura never changed. He was always a great person, a great poet, a great director and a great writer that he was. I’m sure he’ll be waiting for me up there to do projects together when we meet again.Hopeful, he says his next project is a great work for peace. He says, “If I weren’t an eternal optimist, I never would have gotten into making movies. I am an optimist for the future of cinema and for that of society, because only optimists can change the world, pessimists always hide their heads under their wing”.

And he also reminds us that we will see him at the Cannes Film Festival, in a couple of weeks. There he will compete for La Palma with ‘Perfect Days’, a film starring Koji Yakusho, the most international living Japanese. Out of Competition, we will be able to see another documentary of his: ‘Anselm’ (again in 3D!), about the figure of the neo-expressionist painter Anselm Kiefer. In Barcelona he gives us clues about both premieres: “They are not at all like my previous films.” That, taking into account the versatility of the filmmaker, is to say rather little.

Tonight, Wenders has his last cinephile appointment with the city, which has been wallpapered for days with the surprised face of Natassja Kinski (the image of the poster of this last BCN Film Fest). It is the pass with a discussion of ‘Paris, Texas’, which has started as always sponsored by the neighborhood of Gracia.