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The Tokyo Toilets project will star in Wim Wenders' next film

2022-06-27T20:41:00-04:00

The fictional film will be set in a public restroom that is part of the real-life urban renewal project known as the “The Tokyo Toilet project", which involves the creation of 17 public bathrooms in key locations in the Japanese capital with designs by world renowned Japanese architects, such as Tadao Ando and Sou Fujimoto. Wenders said he was inspired by the futuristic look and unique cultural spirit of the project and decided to set his forthcoming untitled film inside one of them.

The angsty Alice in the Cities and Tokyo-Ga director said “there is something very Japanese about the idea, about the whole setting […] I almost think it’s a Utopian idea” in reference to the Nippon Foundation’s two-year-old Tokyo Toilet project, which has to date produced 17 different designs from Toyo Ito, Shigeru Ban, and Tadao Ando, among others. Production will begin in October. The film is said to center around four narratives and stars Koji Yakusho in the lead role as a Tokyo sanitation worker.

“First of all, I love architecture. In another life, I certainly want to be an architect. And I slowly realized how close the work of an architect to the work of a director really is in many ways,” he said at a press conference, referencing Ando's design in particular. “I truly feel like he is a contemporary of mine. Though we don”t meet so often, I feel a connection and I’m happy that I kno...

"His work means a lot to me," Director Wim Wenders planning Zumthor documentary

2020-09-11T12:53:00-04:00

German film director Wim Wenders is planning a new documentary covering the recent work of Swiss architect Peter Zumthor.

Regarding the forthcoming release, Wenders tells the dpa news agency, "His work means a lot to me. I have been accompanying two of his arguably most important buildings from their creation, the new LACMA Museum in Los Angeles and the expansion of the beautiful Fondation Beyeler (by Renzo Piano) in Basel with an additional large new exhibition building."

Further, Wenders explains that his intention is for the film to have a theatrical release rather than a purely digital one. Wenders explains "I only know one thing, namely 'whether' the film should go to the cinema. Of course, absolutely! There is no better awakening of a film than in a cinema, seen by hundreds of pairs of eyes at the same time."

As such, a release date for the film is currently unavailable due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Wim Wenders discusses the role of architecture and landscape in his films

2015-10-08T14:06:00-04:00

I slowly became more and more of a storyteller and less and less of a painter until I embraced film-making as the only profession that really included everything I liked. It was photography and architecture, music and writing and acting—everything I liked together into one package that was called “film-making”.

In an interview with The Economist, film director Wim Wenders speaks about the relationship of landscape and architecture in his work, and how focusing on a scene absent of anyone often amplifies the stories of everyone.

"I try to make places tell their stories about us," he says. Indeed: from "Paris, Texas" to "Wings of Desire" to "Pina," Wenders' filmmaking agilely pairs emotional and physical terrain.

Cathedrals of Culture: the documentary that tries – and fails – to find the souls of buildings

2014-10-01T20:26:00-04:00

Wim Wenders and a team of directors attempt to show ‘the soul of buildings’, from the Pompidou Centre to the most humane prison in the world, in 3D. But their sickly-sweet results feel more like a series of vapid promo videos

Wim Wenders responds to rumors about Zumthor feature film

2012-07-11T14:08:00-04:00

Wim Wender's studio has informed us that the information relayed the other day, was not entirely accurate, due to misinformation in Suedostschweiz, the source article as cited in our recent news post.

It is correct that Mr Wenders is currently working on an artistic interview film with Peter Zumthor for the upcoming Biennale. This short film, however, will be a unique contribution to this year's Biennale only and has nothing to do whatsoever with Mr Wenders' intention to do a feature documentary on Mr Zumthor at a later point of time. It is certainly not a trailer for the feature documentary. These are two completely different projects with the Biennale short film being singularly exhibited at the Biennale and with no connection to a possible feature documentary.

peter zumthor + wim wenders = movie magic....

2012-07-08T07:59:00-04:00

"The internationally-renowned director Wim Wenders devotes his new film to Graubünden architect Peter Zumthor. Work on the project will take several years to complete. A taste of the film will be available August at the Venice Biennale."

ok - the translation's mine (and my german suspect) but apparently wim wenders is doing a long term documentary on zumthor's work. the primary gist of the movie will be to document - fully - one of his projects from sketch to completion. this could either be brilliant or maddeningly overdone....

Wim Wenders Turns His Hand To Architecture

2012-02-27T19:30:00-05:00

Wenders revealed his ambition to make a 3-D documentary about architecture. "I have actually already started a long-term project in 3D. It will take several years to do a film about architecture, and I have a lot of architect friends. I realised through Pina that architecture is something that could have a real affinity to film."