Wim Wenders in Bulgaria
In the days from February 22 to March 22 at the House of Cinema and Cinema Lumiere avid movie buffs were able to watch the film with 21 views of the special guest of 11th edition of Sofia International Film Festival - Wim Wenders. The presence of the cosmopolitan colorful personalities in the annual festival is not a surprise to anyone. This time the director and producer of the event Stefan Kitanov invites one of the leading figures in independent film - director, photographer, writer and film producer Wim Wenders. He was born on August 14, 1945 in Dusseldorf, the son of a surgeon. American cinema, rock music, comics, flipper, beat literature and mysterious longing for America helped in shaping the personality of young Wenders. He always stood behind the idea of the importance of European cinema, although his latest films are directly related to America. And maybe even Wenders is the most prominent example of admiration. It is a film director who, despite his international fame was still far from mainstream cinema.
To the Bulgarian public were presented both already familiar to it titles, as well as movies that were never shown before. One of the most impressive ones that came in the history of cinema - "Wings of Desire," brought him the award for best director at Cannes in 1987 film awards. It won many other international awards as well becoming the occasion for issuing his first book with photographs - "Written in the West". Extremely strong and compelling are the musical documentaries - "Buena Vista Social Club" (1999), which resurrected the talent of a multitude of Cuban musicians and imposed a worldwide mania for Cuban music, "Ode to Cologne" (2002) - a unique rock German rock film BAP group - played on the same stage with the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen, "The Soul of Man"(2003) - movie part produced by Martin Scorsese blues series, co-produced by the U.S. and Germany. There are tragic fates of three African-American musicians. Blind Willie Johnson lost his eyesight during a family conflict; of the Skip James who had the copyright of his own songs stolen; JB Gluan who died of internal bleeding after a fatal delayed medical attention. Despite the difficulties, these three musicians created the most memorable and heartbreaking melodies in the world. Still more, guitar thrum, beat time with feet and deep voice are the only means employed by them.
Wenders is always looking for different forms to experiment with, and so in 1991 ended his feature-length sci-fi project by the end of the world. " Dissatisfied with the version of the film, which producers decide to put on the screen, Wenders continues work on film and 12 years later complets a new 5-Hour Redux. It was the only one shown in a special retrospective of Sofia. The program was created and incorporated in 1993 "So Far, So Close" ('Faraway, So Close') - for the famous "Wings of Desire." Followed by another remarkable project "Beyond the Clouds" - a movie that captures with Michelangelo Antonioni (1995).
The famous film "Lisbon Story" in 1994 with one of my favorite actors Wenders - Rudiger Fogler was part of the important highlights in the program of a retrospective. Music of world famous Portuguese group Madredeus is an essential part of the success of the film.
In Sofia, for the first time we saw the documentary "Tokyo Ga" - a film about a admired by Wenders Japanese film director Yasudzhiro Odzu and another film about another friend of Wenders - documentary story about the Japanese fashion designer Yamamoto Yodzhi - "Notes on Cities and Clothes". Here the director is reflecting on the relationship between fashion and urban images, emphasizing the transition from film images in their modern electronic form. His comments on urban fashion and the new era of images eletronna run during footages of Paris and Tokyo. On the terrace of Centre Bobur in Paris Yamamoto talks about his favorite cities, which are a source of inspiration for him. Here are some interviews with Yamamoto in his studio.
Those of you who want to be closely acquainted with the genius can do so by themselves in a newly published book "A sense of place" by Wim Wenders, part of the library Amarkord, publishing house "Kolibri". In it is treated the philosophy of making cinema with modern conditions, a cinema which behind its shiny package is filled with characters, images, colors and sounds a whole inspiration for the senses.
