The Homage of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival will be dedicated to German filmmaker Wim Wenders, who will also be awarded an Honorary Golden Bear for his lifetime achievement.

The award ceremony on February 12, 2015 at 10 pm in the Berlinale Palast will include a screening of Der amerikanische Freund (The American Friend, 1977).

The film thriller, based on a book by Patricia Highsmith, is set in Hamburg, Paris and New York and tells the story of a fatal friendship between two highly dissimilar men, played by Bruno Ganz and Dennis Hopper.

“The American Friend was Wim Wenders’ international breakthrough film. And we were so impressed by the brilliance of the recently completed digital restoration that we decided to premiere it as part of the award ceremony for the Honorary Golden Bear,” says festival director Dieter Kosslick.

Wim Wenders will be on hand in Berlin to personally introduce some of the Homage films. In addition, the Deutsche Kinemathek has teamed up with Berlinale Talents for a special event entitled “Wings of Time: A Conversation with Wim Wenders” the evening before the honorary award gala.

At the HAU Hebbel am Ufer (HAU1) theatre, the director will sit down for a discussion in English with Rainer Rother, Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen.

For its Homage to Wim Wenders, the 65th Berlin International Film Festival will present a programme of ten of his films.

Films in the Homage:

1. Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick, West Germany / Austria 1972), 4K DCP
2. Alice in den Städten (Alice in the Cities, West Germany 1974), 2K DCP
3. Im Lauf der Zeit (Kings of the Road, West Germany 1976), 4K DCP
4. Der amerikanische Freund (The American Friend, West Germany / France 1977), 4K DCP
5. Paris, Texas (West Germany / France 1984), 2K DCP
6. Tokyo-Ga (West Germany / USA 1985, documentary), 2K DCP
7. Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire, West Germany / France 1987)
8. Bis ans Ende der Welt (Until the End of the World, Germany / France / Australia 1991/1994), director’s cut, 4K DCP
9. The Million Dollar Hotel (Germany / USA 2000), 35mm
10. Pina (Germany / France 2011, 3-D documentary), 2K DCP

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, will honour Wim Wenders in March 2015 with a comprehensive retrospective that will include many of the films shown in this yearʼs Homage programme.

Photo courtesy: Berlin International Film Festival