Veteran German filmmaker Wim Wenders after the film screening at Nandan, Kolkata on February 16, with Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, founder of Film Heritage Foundation.
| Photo Credit: Moyurie Som
Hundreds of film enthusiasts thronged to Kolkata’s esteemed film theatre Nandan on Sunday evening to catch a film screening and interact with award-winning German filmmaker Wim Wenders, who is currently visiting the city between February 16 and February 19 as part of his month-long India tour.
Wenders, a central figure of 1970s’ New German Cinema and director of award-winning films like Paris, Texas (1984) and Wings of Desire (1987), is currently on a month-long, multi-city tour of India. He landed in Kolkata on February 16, after attending houseful interactions and screenings of his films in Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram.
He arrived at Nandan on Sunday — his first stop in Kolkata — to a fanfare of dhak and the Chhau folk dance, eventually walking into the packed screening hall where fans greeted him with a standing ovation.
“It would be understating to say I am overwhelmed… I am full of curiosity about you because I am just learning to meet Indian audiences. I have met extremely educated audiences in both Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram, you can still beat them,” Mr. Wenders said in jest while introducing his film Paris, Texas before its screening.
He added that the version being screened is a restored copy made from the original camera negative of the 1984 film, restored by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, founder-director of the Film Heritage Foundation. “You’ll see the most beautiful version of the film that has existed,” Mr. Wenders told the audience.
He added that the film was in 1983, which marked his seventh year of living in the United States since he left Germany in 1977.
“It took me six years to make a film in the United States according to my own rules,” he said, referring to Paris, Texas. He emphasised the instrumental role of his collaborators in the film, especially cinematographer Robby Müller, writer Sam Shepard, and musician Ry Cooder, with whom he could not collaborate earlier because of ‘restrictions from Hollywood’s studios’.
Mr. Wenders and Mr. Dungarpur also interacted with the audience at the theatre after the screening of Paris, Texas where many fans had their questions answered by the director himself.
“Meeting a filmmaker like Wim Wenders, who I have looked up to for so many years, was a very special experience. I reached Nandan many hours before because Kolkata has a large film-loving audience and I anticipated a massive crowd today,” said 30-year-old media professional Souradeep Chakraborty.
Similarly, Uttarayan Chakrabarti, a 27-year-old video editor, reached the venue four hours in advance to ensure he had a seat for the session. “I have watched his films since I was a young adult but as I grew older, his films started hitting me differently. He strays from the conventional filmmaking style of Hollywood, and tells his stories very honestly,” he said.
For 26-year-old advertising professional Antak Biswas, Sunday was his first time watching Paris, Texas. “I deliberately avoided the version available on digital platforms. Loneliness has been a recurring theme in the movies of Wenders. This movie wasn’t an exception. Also, I loved what Wenders said after the film, that a good movie should have its flaws,” he said.
Mr. Wenders also conducted a two-hour-long masterclass on Monday at Kolkata’s G.D. Birla Sabhaghar where a hundred-plus audience asked him questions about his films, his experience making them, and his thoughts on cinema.
At the masterclass, he spoke about modern-day loneliness, the importance of watching films on the big screen, and his experiments with new filmmaking technologies. Wenders also fondly recalled meeting veteran filmmaker Satyajit Ray in 1973 at the Berlin Film Festival, when Ray won the prestigious Golden Lion award for his film Ashani Sanket.
The screening schedule for the Kolkata leg of Wenders’ tour includes sixteen films including Paris, Texas, Kings of the Road, Alice in the Cities, Buena Vista Social Club, The State of Things, Wings of Desire, Until the End of the World, and others. They are being screened at Nandan and Basusree Cinema in Kolkata, between February 16 and February 19.
Published – February 18, 2025 10:21 pm IST
