European Film Academy honours Wim Wenders

At this year’s 37th European Film Awards, and in recognition of a unique contribution to the world of film, the European Film Academy will present Wim Wenders with the award European Lifetime Achievement for his outstanding body of work.

Born in Düsseldorf, Wim Wenders attended the Academy of Film & Television in Munich, worked as a film critic for various German publications, and was a founding member of film distributor Filmverlag der Autoren. In 1975, he started his own production company in Berlin, Road Movies. Often hailed as one of the most important German directors on the international scene, Wim Wenders has received various international awards, including the German Film Award, Golden Lion, the Palme d’Or, Italian David di Donatello award and BAFTA, as well as twice the European Film Award, and a Silver Bear.

Throughout his career, Wim Wenders has made several unconventional documentaries including Lightning Over Water (1980), Tokyo-Ga (1985), and Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989). His most famous documentary, Buena Vista Social Club (1999) about a group of legendary Cuban musicians, won a European Film Award and was nominated for an Oscar. So did his 3D dance documentary PINA (2011) with the Wuppertal dance ensemble Pina Bausch. Another Oscar nomination followed in 2015 for THE SALT OF THE EARTH about the Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado.

A major survey of Wenders’ photography, “Pictures from the Surface of the Earth”, has toured museums and art institutions world-wide. Wim Wenders has also published numerous books of essays and photographs. In 2012, he and his wife Donata Wenders initiated the Wim Wenders Foundation to gather all of his creative work and make it permanently accessible to the public. In co-operation with the foundation, the film funding institution Film- und Medienstiftung NRW annually bestows the Wim Wenders Grant for innovative storytelling to support young filmmakers.

Wim Wenders was a founding member and President of the European Film Academy from 1996 to 2020. He received the Leopard of Honour in Locarno (2005), an Honorary Golden Bear in 2015 and the Prix Lumiere in Lyon in 2023. He is also member of the order “Pour le Mérite”.

In 2023, Wim Wenders returned to Cannes with two films – the 3D documentary ANSELM about the German painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer and the feature film PERFECT DAYS with Kōji Yakusho as a Tokyo toilet cleaner, which won the Best Actor Award in Cannes and was subsequently nominated for an Oscar.

“With this award, we celebrate Wim Wenders’ outstanding body of work which keeps exploring and experimenting with a curious eye and an open mind,” says Matthijs Wouter Knol, CEO and Director of the European Film Academy. “As one of the founding members of the European Film Academy, its Chairman from 1990 until 1995 and President until 2020, Wim Wenders has a strong connection to the European Film Academy and we’re additionally happy to also celebrate his outstanding commitment and say thank you,” he adds.