North American Premiere
In this stunning documentary, acclaimed director Wim Wenders presents the work of contemporary German artist Anselm Kiefer, who for decades has rattled European history and shown a mirror to post Second World War complacency and forgetfulness. Anselm navigates complexities of the artist’s long career, and features works including photographs, monumental installations, large-scale paintings, and ragged, blackened oversized books. The camera follows Kiefer as he bikes through his hangar of an art studio, sets huge canvases on fire, and sits amongst headless mannequins dressed in white Victorian gowns. As an artist, Kiefer interrogates narratives and addresses his country’s Nazi past and fascism’s philosophical underpinnings, and confronts the aftermath of war on the landscape. Gorgeous cinematography captures the inner and outer landscape of the artist, while past and present narratives blur the boundaries between cinema and visual art. An absorbing, tremendously cinematic experience.
Presented in 3D
Presented by
Series Media Partner
Anselm Kiefer, Daniel Kiefer, Anton Wenders
Germany
2023
Portraits
In German and English with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Executive Producer
Wim Wenders
Producer
Karsten Brünig
Cinematography
Franz Lustig
Editor
Maxine Goedicke
Production Design
Sebastian Soukup, Karin Betzler
Director
Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders (born 1945) came to international prominence as one of the pioneers of German Cinema during the 1970s and is now considered one of the most important figures in contemporary film. In addition to his many prize-winning feature films, his work as a scriptwriter, director, producer, photographer and author also encompasses an abundance of innovative documentary films. His career as a filmmaker began in 1967. His international breakthrough came with The American Friend (1977), an adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel. Since then, Wenders has continued to work both in Europe and the USA as well as in Latin America and Asia and has been honored with countless awards at festivals
around the world.
Filmography: Alice in the Cities (1973); Paris, Texas (1984); Wings of Desire (1987); Pina (2011); Perfect Days (2023)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
No Other Land
Deemed by many critics one of the essential films of 2024, a multiple festival award winner and Academy Award winner for Best Documentary, No Other Land is a reminder that mass expulsion is by no means a new reality for Palestinians.
The Way, My Way
All manner of pilgrims flock to France and Spain to walk the 800 km Camino de Santiago. One such is Bill, a stroppy sexagenarian Australian filmmaker who's determined to do the Camino with minimal prep, a dickey leg, and no firm idea why.
Resident Orca
Captured in Puget Sound in 1970, killer whale Lolita spent the next half century in a cramped tank in Seaquarium, Miami. The film follows a coalition of Lummi elders, animal lovers and philanthropists on a rescue mission to return her to the ocean.
Misericordia
Edgy, eccentric, and unapologetically queer, this film goes from drama to comedy without putting a foot wrong. Sex and murder are the subjects, and writer-director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake) mines them for suspense and outrageous laughs.
The Stand
This rousing doc explores a 1985 dispute over logging in the Haida Gwaii. Taking us from canny retrospective commentary to the thick of the action, director Chris Auchter employs animation and a wealth of archival footage to riveting effect.