Wim Wenders will receive the BCN Film Fest Honor Award

The veteran German filmmaker and screenwriter Wim Wenders will be the special guest at the BCN Film Fest, which will pay tribute to him with the Honor Award and will be the star of a comprehensive retrospective that brings together his main works: The Goalkeeper's Fear Before the Penalty, The Friend American, Sky over Berlin, So far, so close!, Buena Vista Social Club or the mythical Paris, Texas.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
31 January 2023 Tuesday 07:38
21 Reads
Wim Wenders will receive the BCN Film Fest Honor Award

The veteran German filmmaker and screenwriter Wim Wenders will be the special guest at the BCN Film Fest, which will pay tribute to him with the Honor Award and will be the star of a comprehensive retrospective that brings together his main works: The Goalkeeper's Fear Before the Penalty, The Friend American, Sky over Berlin, So far, so close!, Buena Vista Social Club or the mythical Paris, Texas. Precisely, the actress of this film that raised him internationally, Nastassja Kinski, dazzles as the protagonist in the poster of the seventh edition of the contest, which will be held from April 20 to 28.

"Wenders is a total artist, an emblem of European cinema and the author of a polyhedral cinema that is constantly being renewed", the director of the BCN Film Fest, Conxita Casanovas, said of him this afternoon at a press conference to present a preview of the programming that will have as official venues the Verdi cinemas, Caixaforum, Casa Seat, the French Institute and a new space, La perla 22, a house of literary creation that will develop its own program of cultural events linked to cinema and literature, the theme that brings together the productions on which the contest is concerned. The price of each ticket follows the competitive price of 3.90 euros.

"We like the look of Kinski" who appears dressed in pink, "a very spring color", added Casanovas, who points out that the presence of Wenders "will give us strength" in a festival that wants to be "motivating" and reach the people "who love culture". "Wenders is also a creator of moviegoers", added the coordinator of the contest, Ángel Romero.

Among the preview of films that will be part of the official competition section are Alma and Oskar, by the German Dieter Berner, a story that narrates the peculiar relationship between Alma Mahler and the artist Oskar Kokoschka. In The Hummingbird, the Italian Francesca Archibugi casts Nani Moretti in the role of psychiatrist in a film that opened the Rome festival. Another Italian production, The First Day of My Life, directed by Paolo Genovese, which adapts his own novel, talks about people who have to learn to value life. With Toni Servillo leading the cast, "it will make you cry," said Casanovas. Omar Sy, remembered for his performance in the blockbuster Untouchable, is in charge of Father and Son, where a father and son meet in the trenches during World War I. Veteran Bille August directs the period film The Impatience of the Heart, set in 1913 with a soldier who meets a young woman in a wheelchair and is unsure if her feelings are pity or true love.

The section in competition is completed with the arrival of new directors such as Christophe Rolin with Le voyage de Talia or the Argentine Ana García Blaya in La uruguaya, a debut feature that addresses a writer's mid-forties crisis. Two films that reflect on freedom of expression have been mentioned out of competition: The Padilla case, by Pavel Giroud, and No bears, by Iranian Jafar Panahi, who is still imprisoned in Tehran serving a six-year sentence imposed on him by the last year when he was convicted for anti-government protests. The film, two parallel love stories, won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Festival.

The closing of the seventh edition, which will host around 70 films, will be directed by the Catalan Sica, by Carla Subirana, a drama about adolescence produced by Alba Sotorra and starring Núria Prims who will participate in the Generation Section of the next Berlinale. "A film that will lead us to a good port," says Casanovas.