Wim Wenders Net Worth
Wim Wenders Net Worth is
$1.4 Million
Wim Wenders Bio/Wiki, Net Worth, Married 2018
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (German pronunciation: [vɪm vɛndəɐs]; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, photographer, and a major figure in New German Cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, he has received some of the highest international film awards, including the Palme d'Or at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival for his drama Paris, Texas; the Golden Lion for the drama The State of Things at the Venice Film Festival (1982); and Best Director for the romantic fantasy film Wings of Desire at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. He has been nominated for the Academy Awards three times, for his documentaries Buena Vista Social Club, about the music of Cuba, Pina, about the contemporary dance choreographer Pina Bausch, and The Salt of the Earth, about Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado. Since 1996, Wenders has been the president of the European Film Academy in Berlin.Alongside filmmaking, Wenders works with the medium of photography, emphasizing images of desolate landscapes. | Date Of Birth | August 14, 1945 |
| Place Of Birth | Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
| Height | 6' 3" (1.91 m) |
| Profession | Director, Producer, Writer |
| Spouse | Donata Wenders (m. 1993) |
| Parents | Heinrich Wenders |
| Awards | Palme d'Or, Golden Lion, Cannes Best Director Award |
| Star Sign | Leo |
| # | Trademark |
|---|---|
| 1 | Often works with Robby Müller |
| 2 | Dramatising the human struggle through the use of landscape, nature and isolation |
| 3 | Road films |
| 4 | On-the-road location filming |
| 5 | Glasses with thick, dark rims. |
| # | Quote |
|---|---|
| 1 | It is the fate of all culture to be forgotten and to disappear. Sometimes it needs an archaeological effort to bring it back to light. I think it's an exciting time to be making movies, to record these changes and sometimes to evoke things that are about to disappear, evoke things we might want to hold on to. |
| 2 | There's a film of John Ford called The Searchers (1956) and sometimes I think that's [my] main topic. ... It's searchers. It's people who are searching, trying to define what they live for, trying to find [the] meaning of their lives, trying to find their role in life, looking for love, searching searching searching. That seems to be the key thing my characters are doing.[2015] |
| 3 | I was very much encouraged by American painters who started to use cameras - Andy Warhol, Stan Brakhage. These were painters I liked and all of a sudden they're all making movies. And I started to think that cameras were a logical next step for painters to hold on to. So I started to make little short films, but looked at them as painterly things. I didn't think of myself as a filmmaker; I made these movies as a painter....All of a sudden, I realized filmmaking was something else than painting, and filmmaking used montages and sounds and dialogue and music. And slowly my totally non-narrative films became more and more narrative. Slowly but surely, I turned from a painter to a storyteller.[2015] |
| 4 | My first impressions of beauty [were] not in life but strictly in paintings because I was born right after the war. My hometown of Düsseldorf was flattened, 90 percent of the city was in ruins, and as a kid that's what you take for granted. That's what the world looks like. But there was a better world and that was all these cheap art prints my parents had on their walls. And there were some old Dutch paintings and French landscapes ... and these cheap prints gave me the idea that there was a different kind of world out there.[2015] |
| 5 | I'm one of those guys to whom the saying can be applied, about the prophet in his own country. New German Cinema was an invention by the American press-they coined it. Fassbinder, Herzog, myself, and a few other guys. We were looked at like a hopeless bunch of freaks in Germany. Only the recognition we got in America helped us. So I'm extremely grateful for the way my films were received in America. I remember I arrived in New York in January 1972 for the very first time, because MoMA had their first New Directors season, and I was one of the 12 who was going to present his first film here. That was the very first time I gave an interview. The film of mine was received sort of positively, and with respect, and in Germany, we were the outlaws. Nobody knew what to do with us. (...) Because Germans were burned with 15 years of filmmaking under the Nazis, where it was strictly propaganda. After that, throughout the 50s and 60s, German cinema was very much influenced by American cinema. Germans didn't really have confidence in their own stories, or in the fact that cinema could be a reflection of their own history. Thus they looked at American movies, and were happy to not be in any dilemma about their history. When we showed up in the late 60s and early 70s, people were not used to being confronted with themselves. I think the openness with which American audiences and critics received us helped us to be taken seriously. My films, from the beginning, had been heavily influenced by American cinema, so that helped a lot for them to be understood here. [2015] |
| 6 | Now, more or less, people take it for granted that movies don't have anything to do with their lives. That has become the definition of movies. I think that's sad. I think movies can enlighten our lives in a beautiful way, and I have a strong affinity for reality and for what it feels like to be alive today and the whole bloody mystery of life. I think it's something that movies can enlighten. But that idea by now is almost obsolete. [2015] |
| 7 | [on the changes in the film industry since the 70s] It's a different ballgame. In the 70s, there was only one kind of film production. You had a choice to make a film on 35, on 16, black and white, or color, and that was it. And today you can make movies in many ways. You can make movies much more expensively than we ever dreamt of at the time, and you can make them much more cheaply. Financing and preparing a film is a different ballgame. You can't get a movie made unless you have a really good script. (...) Especially if you're a big name director. You have more leeway if you're a first time director, today. If you have a big name, they really want to look at your script. The idea of making a film without a big script, or without a finished script - and I made a number of films without a single page of a script - is unthinkable today. If I were to go out now and try to make Kings of the Road (1976) they would kick me out of any office of whatever institution or distributor it is that I would try to get money from. Nobody would be willing to invest money in a film with a director who tells you "we'll write it as we go." (...) Yeah, it's much more of an industry now than it was. At that time, there was more of a notion that filmmaking was part of the arts, a language, a form of expression. And if you said today, Well, I want to make a film where two guys are traveling through Germany and they discover the country, and it's about the state of the cinemas, and all these little towns where there's only one cinema left, and it's dying...they would tell you, well, write a script and come again. But at the time, we could still finance the film and I could shoot it over a long period, 11 weeks. Today films have to be made so much quicker, and you have to prepare them for so much longer. Also in post-production, it takes so much longer. At the time, with linear editing, I'd never spend more than a few months in the editing room. But today with digital cinema, you sit there for a year. And then you work on your sound for another year, or six months. So it's all a slower process. Financing a film takes much longer. And very often they tell you, Well, it sounds promising, but we think you need to fiddle around with the script a little more - come back again. (...) I've made more documentaries over the last decade than ever before, mainly because there was so much more freedom in that field, and people could accept that maybe you'd just write a short treatment and not a script. Even in the field of documentaries, I tell you, my students who go out and make their first feature films, they expect to do a documentary based on a script - believe it or not. So it gets a little out of hand. People want more security. They want to know before they make a film what it's going to be like. I was very privileged to start in the 70s, and really make a film a year for 10 years. The only living person who's still doing that is Woody Allen. He has a machinery going; writing in the winter, prepping in the spring, shooting in the summer, editing in the fall. He has it down. But he's the only living person who's still doing that. (...) I was only able to do that in the 70s. In the 80s, it already got more complicated. Every Thing Will Be Fine (2015) took 5 years and The Salt of the Earth (2014) took three years. From the beginning, to the conception, until it's out. So it takes longer, it's more complicated, people need more security, and it's much more of an industrial process. (...) When I started out, it was all based much more on friendship and solidarity. German cinema was strictly possible through an act of historically unmatched solidarity of 15 or 20 filmmakers who helped each other, because none of us would've been able to produce, let alone distribute a movie alone. Even if we didn't like each other's movies, we helped each other. Today, that's pretty unthinkable. It's much more competitive. Films are so much more under the duress of stress. From the beginning, you have a little window, and if the film doesn't click with your audience, it's gone away. A film like Wings of Desire (1987) if it came out today, would not have a chance. It would disappear. Even at the time, it needed time. It eventually became a classic, if I may say so, but it needed time. Films go through this narrow hole of distribution today and become cult movies or classics...for every one of them that makes it today, I know 10 others that don't. There's so many good movies that do not make it. So I feel privileged I was able to start in the 70s. There was more patience, and a young filmmaker like myself could make a few rotten tomatoes without my career going down the drain. Today it's very difficult to make a second movie if your first one didn't make it. (...) Movies are made with a whole different means |
| 8 | For an American audience, it might sound totally weird when I say I love it [3D] for its intimacy and for the way it brings us closer to people. My colleagues in America connect 3D with effects, loud stuff, and action. I think its real propensity is intimacy and warmth and immersion. It's a fantastic tool to discover the world and tell stories of reality, and it's used for the sheer opposite - it's driving me crazy. I'm very scared that 3D will disappear because people are fed up with it, and think it's baloney, and it's not for them. I'm scared 3D will disappear without ever having been discovered. Even with my new film Every Thing Will Be Fine (2015) people are skeptical. They say, We don't like 3D. Then I try to tell them what it's about, and why I like it, and they're still skeptical, because they've been burned. I am a big defender of the idea that 3D can do things nobody knows about. [2015] |
| 9 | [on Summer in the City (1971)] The hero's path is an escape route, driven by the hope to find a way back to himself through the mere movement of travel. |
| 10 | [on road movies] The genre doesn't quite have the same appeal anymore, mainly because everybody travels now. Traveling was once a privilege, and being on the road was a state of grace, and not that many people dared to take that liberty. But today, anybody can book a flight to the U.S. and rent a car or bike and go down Route 66 or feel like in Easy Rider ... I made a film in 1990 called Until the End of the World, which was really some sort of ultimate road movie. It was a journey through four continents and a dozen countries. But then it turned into some sort of an "interior journey" into the souls of our central characters. And those journeys into the mind are definitely more dangerous and revealing today ... |
| 11 | [on what did he learn from Sebastião Salgado] There's no one concrete thing that I learned from him, but still there were a number of enormous lessons. To be so radical, and once you've made a realization, draw your conclusions and then change your life, that was something amazing. This man had a great career as an economist ahead of him, and then realized he had a gift for photography and completely changed his life and started from scratch. I don't think many people do that today. And then 30 years later, he gave up that photography because he realized he couldn't handle it anymore. He put his camera down and said, 'That was the last picture I've taken. I can't do it anymore.' That too is radical. |
| 12 | Films can heal! Not the world, of course, but our vision of it, and that's already enough. |
| 13 | I think the artistic process is one of the great adventures left in our modern times. There are very few adventures left to be done by traveling anywhere because everyone has already been everywhere, but creation is still a great adventure. |
| 14 | In a nutshell, Hammett (1982) was shot twice. The first film was shot entirely on location in San Francisco only. Not a single second in the studio, everything on location in real places in San Francisco. The studio didn't like it. There wasn't too much action, too much time was dedicated to Hammett the writer and not enough to Hammett the detective. He became a writer out of necessity because he became sick and couldn't work as a detective anymore. He decided to write about his experiences and in that idea "Hammett" was based. So my first shoot was strictly set in San Francisco and really based on the actual character of Hammett. The studio didn't like it, they thought it was too slow and they wanted more of the fantasy and the detective. In the final product ten shots survived from my original shoot: only exteriors. Because there wasn't much money left, and I was too stubborn to drop it and or say, "Well then let somebody else do it." Francis Ford Coppola was too stubborn to fire me so we stuck it out and we respected each other in spite of all the conflicts. So I ended up shooting the second version as well. That was entirely in one sound stage. The whole [first] shoot never saw the light of day, except for a couple of shots from the first, maybe 5% of the film from the first version. (...) [The first version] was destroyed. It doesn't exist now. They only kept a cut negative, everything else is junked. Which I found out really late and I don't know who was to blame. I don't know. Anyway, I was very disappointed. At one point I suggested to Zoetrope that I could finish [that version] and wouldn't it be an interesting case study to present the two films? They said, "Oh yeah, that's interesting, let's find out," and then eventually the guy who was responsible for this did the whole inventory and said, "I'm sorry we couldn't find your film."[2015] |
| 15 | I believe very much in overseeable budgets. I really believe in films where the money allows freer expression but the budget isn't that big that people are breathing down your neck all the time and looking at what you're doing. The movies that I really enjoy throughout the whole history of Hollywood were never the big pictures; they were the underbelly. |
| 16 | [on the subject of his Oscar-nominated documentary] Pina was a perfectionist in a different way. She wanted each dancer to be completely himself or herself. She didn't want them to play any parts. That was an amazing process to see. To see them do it, not fake it. |
| 17 | [on employing 3-D to film the choreography of Pina Bausch] The body is such an important thing in [her] work, and it is fiction on the regular screen. In 3-D, the body has volume. The body is an instrument to discover and conquer space. Everybody thinks that depth is the great thing about 3-D. But in my book, volume is the great thing. |
| 18 | [on whether he will continue to film in 3-D] I will not do anything else. I'm completely hooked. I think 3-D is a still unexplored cinematographic story. In my books, it's the ideal medium for the documentary of the future. It's not invented to show us different planets. It's invented to show us our own planet. |
| 19 | It is very hard to stay inside the boundaries of a genre film; I admire people that are able to do that. I just don't have the discipline. What I like about genres is that you can play with expectations and that there are certain rules that you can either obey or work against. But genres are a funny thing. They're heaven and they're hell. They help you to channel your ideas and they are helpful to guide the audience, but they don't help you in what you want to transport other than the genre itself. Genres get angry if you want to tell other stories -- because they are sort of self-sufficient. They like to be the foreground. |
| 20 | In the beginning I just wanted to make movies, but with the passage of time the journey itself was no longer the goal, but what you find at the end. Now, I make films to discover something I didn't know, very much like a detective. |
| 21 | I've turned from an imagemaker into a storyteller. Only a story can give meaning and a moral to an image. |
| 22 | I will always produce my own films and avoid finding myself at the distributor's mercy. You must become a producer if you want any control over the fate of your work. Otherwise, it becomes another person's film and he does with it what he pleases. I only had one experience like that and I will never repeat it. |
| 23 | Originality now is rare in the cinema and it isn't worth striving for because most work that does this is egocentric and pretentious. What is most enjoyable about the cinema is simply working with a language that is classical in the sense that the image is understood by everyone. I'm not at all interested in innovating film language, making it more aesthetic. I love film history, and you're better off learning from those who proceeded you. |
| 24 | Hollywood filmmaking has become more and more about power and control. It's really not about telling stories. That's just a pretense. But ironically, the fundamental difference between making films in Europe versus America is in how the screenplay is dealt with. From my experiences in Germany and France, the script is something that is constantly scrutinized by the film made from it. Americans are far more practical. For them, the screenplay is a blueprint and it must be adhered to rigidly in fear of the whole house falling down. In a sense, all of the creative energy goes into the screenplay so one could say that the film already exists before the film even begins shooting. You lose spontaneity. But in Germany and France, I think that filmmaking is regarded as an adventure in itself. |
| 25 | Sex and violence was never really my cup of tea; I was always more into sax and violins. |
| # | Fact |
|---|---|
| 1 | His book, Emotion Pictures, a collection of diary essays written while he was a film student, was adapted and broadcast as a series of plays on BBC Radio 3. |
| 2 | Is also a photographer. |
| 3 | An avid backgammon player. |
| 4 | Wender's Gray City, Inc. Manhattan office overlooks 11 East 14th Street, the site of D. W. Griffith's American Biograph studio, whose brownstone has been replaced by a white condominium. |
| 5 | Attended Munich's Academy of Film and Television from 1967 to 1970. |
| 6 | Uncle of Hella Wenders. |
| 7 | President of the Jury at the Venice Film Festival in 2008. He openly argued with the festival's artistic director over the rules for the final verdict and disliked the experience so much, he vowed never to be part of a film festival jury again. |
| 8 | He closed Belgrade Film Festival - FEST 2006. |
| 9 | He has been infertile since an illness in childhood. |
| 10 | Many of his films are indebted to Nicholas Ray, which is proved by the expressionistic use of color in The American Friend (1977) or the title of Until the End of the World (1991) (Until The End of The World), the last spoken words in Ray's King of Kings (1961). Kings of the Road (1976) also lovingly lifts a scene from Ray's The Lusty Men (1952). His movie Lightning Over Water (1980) is a documentary about Nicholas Ray's last days. |
| 11 | Considers Yasujirô Ozu to be his all-time grandmaster. |
| 12 | After studying medicine and philosophy in Munich, Freiburg and Düsseldorf, he joined the Munich Academy for Television and Film in 1968. |
| 13 | He worked with all of his wives on at least one movie: With Edda Köchl: Alice in the Cities (1974), Summer in the City (1971) and The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1972); with Lisa Kreuzer: Alice in the Cities (1974), The American Friend (1977), Wrong Move (1975) and Kings of the Road (1976); with Isabelle Weingarten: The State of Things (1982); with Ronee Blakley: I played It for You (1984), I played It for You (1984) and Lightning Over Water (1980) and with Donata Wenders: Al di là delle nuvole (1995), Arisha, der Bär und der steinerne Ring (1992), Buena Vista Social Club (1999), The End of Violence (1997), Lisbon Story (1994), Land of Plenty (2004) and The Million Dollar Hotel (2000). |
| 14 | President of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1989 |
| 15 | Donated his $5,000 Cannes prize for "Wings of Desire" (Wings of Desire (1987)) to Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan. |
| 16 | President of the European Film Academy |
Director
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pope Francis: A Man of His Word | 2018 | Documentary filming | |
| Submergence | 2017 | completed | |
| Les beaux jours d'Aranjuez | 2016 | ||
| Every Thing Will Be Fine | 2015 | ||
| The Salt of the Earth | 2014 | Documentary | |
| Cathedrals of Culture | 2014 | Documentary segment "The Berlin Philharmonic" | |
| Mundo Invisível | 2012 | segment "Ver ou Não Ver" | |
| Pina | 2011 | Documentary | |
| If Buildings Could Talk | 2010 | Documentary short | |
| Il Volo | 2010 | Documentary short | |
| 8 | 2008 | segment "Person to Person" | |
| Palermo Shooting | 2008 | ||
| Chacun son cinéma ou Ce petit coup au coeur quand la lumière s'éteint et que le film commence | 2007 | segment "War in Peace" | |
| Invisibles | 2007 | Documentary segment "Invisible Crimes" | |
| Don't Come Knocking | 2005 | ||
| Land of Plenty | 2004 | ||
| The Blues | 2003 | TV Series documentary 1 episode | |
| The Soul of a Man | 2003 | Documentary | |
| Other Side of the Road | 2003 | Short | |
| U2: The Best of 1990-2000 | 2002 | Video documentary videos "Stay Faraway, So Close!", "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" | |
| Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet | 2002 | segment "Twelve Miles to Trona" | |
| Viel passiert - Der BAP-Film | 2002 | Documentary | |
| The Million Dollar Hotel | 2000 | ||
| U2: The Ground Beneath Her Feet | 2000 | Video short | |
| Un matin partout dans le monde | 2000 | TV Short | |
| Buena Vista Social Club | 1999 | Documentary | |
| Willie Nelson at the Teatro | 1998 | Documentary | |
| The End of Violence | 1997 | ||
| Lumière et compagnie | 1995 | Documentary | |
| Die Gebrüder Skladanowsky | 1995 | ||
| Al di là delle nuvole | 1995 | prologue, intermissions & epilogue | |
| Lisbon Story | 1994 | ||
| U2: Stay (Faraway, So Close!) | 1993 | Video short | |
| Faraway, So Close! | 1993 | ||
| Arisha, der Bär und der steinerne Ring | 1992 | Short | |
| Until the End of the World | 1991 | ||
| Red Hot and Blue | 1990 | TV Movie segment "Night and Day" | |
| U2: Night and Day | 1990 | Video short | |
| Aufzeichnungen zu Kleidern und Städten | 1989 | Documentary | |
| Wings of Desire | 1987 | ||
| Tokyo-Ga | 1985 | Documentary | |
| I played It for You | 1984 | Documentary | |
| Paris, Texas | 1984 | ||
| The State of Things | 1982 | ||
| Reverse Angle: Ein Brief aus New York | 1982 | Documentary short | |
| Chambre 666 | 1982 | TV Movie documentary | |
| Hammett | 1982 | ||
| Lightning Over Water | 1980 | Documentary | |
| Ein Haus für uns | 1977 | TV Series 2 episodes | |
| The American Friend | 1977 | ||
| Kings of the Road | 1976 | ||
| Wrong Move | 1975 | ||
| Alice in the Cities | 1974 | ||
| The Scarlet Letter | 1973 | ||
| The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick | 1972 | ||
| Summer in the City | 1971 | ||
| 3 amerikanische LP's | 1969 | TV Short | |
| Alabama (2000 Light Years) | 1969 | Short | |
| Polizeifilm | 1969 | TV Short | |
| Silver City | 1969 | Short | |
| Klappenfilm | 1968 | Short | |
| Victor I. | 1968 | Short | |
| Same Player Shoots Again | 1968 | Short | |
| Schauplätze | 1967 | Short |
Producer
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pope Francis: A Man of His Word | 2018 | Documentary producer filming | |
| Waiting for the Miracle to Come | 2016 | executive producer completed | |
| Return to Timbuktu | Documentary executive producer filming | ||
| Les beaux jours d'Aranjuez | 2016 | producer | |
| National Bird | 2016 | Documentary executive producer | |
| Un tango más | 2015 | Documentary executive producer | |
| The Salt of the Earth | 2014 | Documentary executive producer | |
| Cathedrals of Culture | 2014 | Documentary executive producer | |
| Sing Me the Songs That Say I Love You: A Concert for Kate McGarrigle | 2012 | Documentary executive producer | |
| Pina | 2011 | Documentary producer | |
| Yi ye Taibei | 2010 | executive producer | |
| The Open Road | 2009 | executive producer | |
| Kurôn wa kokyô wo mezasu | 2008 | executive producer | |
| Palermo Shooting | 2008 | producer | |
| The House Is Burning | 2006 | executive producer | |
| Don't Come Knocking | 2005 | executive producer - uncredited | |
| Música cubana | 2004 | Documentary executive producer | |
| Egoshooter | 2004 | producer | |
| La torcedura | 2004 | Short executive producer | |
| Narren | 2003 | producer | |
| Junimond | 2002 | producer | |
| Halbe Miete | 2002 | producer | |
| The Million Dollar Hotel | 2000 | producer | |
| The End of Violence | 1997 | producer | |
| Go for Gold! | 1997 | producer | |
| Lisbon Story | 1994 | producer | |
| Faraway, So Close! | 1993 | producer | |
| Arisha, der Bär und der steinerne Ring | 1992 | Short producer | |
| The Absence | 1992 | co-producer | |
| Dream Island | 1991 | producer | |
| Aufzeichnungen zu Kleidern und Städten | 1989 | Documentary producer | |
| Wings of Desire | 1987 | producer | |
| Yer demir gök bakir | 1987 | producer | |
| Tokyo-Ga | 1985 | Documentary producer | |
| Reverse Angle: Ein Brief aus New York | 1982 | Documentary short producer | |
| Lightning Over Water | 1980 | Documentary producer | |
| ...als Diesel geboren | 1979 | Documentary producer | |
| Radio On | 1979 | associate producer | |
| Die linkshändige Frau | 1978 | producer | |
| The American Friend | 1977 | producer | |
| Kings of the Road | 1976 | producer | |
| Ein bißchen Liebe | 1974 | producer | |
| Summer in the City | 1971 | producer | |
| Silver City | 1969 | Short producer | |
| Klappenfilm | 1968 | Short producer | |
| Same Player Shoots Again | 1968 | Short producer | |
| Schauplätze | 1967 | Short producer |
Writer
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pope Francis: A Man of His Word | 2018 | Documentary screenplay filming | |
| Les beaux jours d'Aranjuez | 2016 | screenplay | |
| The Salt of the Earth | 2014 | Documentary writer | |
| Cathedrals of Culture | 2014 | Documentary segment "The Berlin Philharmonic" | |
| Mundo Invisível | 2012 | segment "Ver ou Não Ver" | |
| Pina | 2011 | Documentary written by | |
| If Buildings Could Talk | 2010 | Documentary short written by | |
| Il Volo | 2010 | Documentary short | |
| 8 | 2008 | segment "Person to Person" | |
| Palermo Shooting | 2008 | writer | |
| Invisibles | 2007 | Documentary | |
| Don't Come Knocking | 2005 | story | |
| Land of Plenty | 2004 | story / written by | |
| The Blues | 2003 | TV Series documentary writer - 1 episode | |
| The Soul of a Man | 2003 | Documentary writer | |
| Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet | 2002 | segment "Twelve Miles to Trona" | |
| Viel passiert - Der BAP-Film | 2002 | Documentary | |
| U2: The Ground Beneath Her Feet | 2000 | Video short | |
| Buena Vista Social Club | 1999 | Documentary by | |
| Willie Nelson at the Teatro | 1998 | Documentary writer | |
| City of Angels | 1998 | screenplay "Der Himmel über Berlin" | |
| The End of Violence | 1997 | story | |
| Die Gebrüder Skladanowsky | 1995 | ||
| Al di là delle nuvole | 1995 | ||
| Lisbon Story | 1994 | ||
| Faraway, So Close! | 1993 | screenplay | |
| Arisha, der Bär und der steinerne Ring | 1992 | Short | |
| Until the End of the World | 1991 | original idea by / screenplay | |
| Aufzeichnungen zu Kleidern und Städten | 1989 | Documentary writer | |
| Wings of Desire | 1987 | ||
| Tokyo-Ga | 1985 | Documentary | |
| The State of Things | 1982 | screenplay | |
| Reverse Angle: Ein Brief aus New York | 1982 | Documentary short screenplay | |
| Chambre 666 | 1982 | TV Movie documentary conception | |
| Lightning Over Water | 1980 | Documentary | |
| The American Friend | 1977 | ||
| Kings of the Road | 1976 | ||
| Alice in the Cities | 1974 | ||
| The Scarlet Letter | 1973 | writer | |
| The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick | 1972 | ||
| Summer in the City | 1971 | ||
| Alabama (2000 Light Years) | 1969 | Short writer | |
| Polizeifilm | 1969 | TV Short | |
| Silver City | 1969 | Short writer | |
| Same Player Shoots Again | 1968 | Short writer | |
| Schauplätze | 1967 | Short |
Actor
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zwischen den Zeiten | 2011 | Short | Bekannter |
| Hitler in Hollywood | 2010 | Wim Wenders | |
| Snowblind | 2010 | Gray Fox | |
| Cronología | 2010 | Short | Narrator (voice) |
| La torcedura | 2004 | Short | Oilfield Worker |
| Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet | 2002 | Doctor #1 (segment "Twelve Miles to Trona") | |
| The Million Dollar Hotel | 2000 | uncredited | |
| Tango Berlin | 1997 | Short | |
| Die Gebrüder Skladanowsky | 1995 | Milkman / Coalman / Himself | |
| Ohne mich | 1993 | Short | |
| Neues Deutschland | 1993 | TV Movie segment "Ohne Mich" | |
| Arisha, der Bär und der steinerne Ring | 1992 | Short | Santa Claus |
| Dream Island | 1991 | Watcher | |
| Il cuore e le gambe (Herzog) | 1989 | ||
| Helsinki Napoli All Night Long | 1987 | Gas Station Attendant | |
| King Kongs Faust | 1985 | Regisseur | |
| Tausend Augen | 1984 | Dieb im Videoladen | |
| The State of Things | 1982 | Tram passenger (uncredited) | |
| Long Shot | 1978 | Another Director | |
| Ein Haus für uns | 1977 | TV Series | Cinema visitor |
| The American Friend | 1977 | Figure Wrapped in Plaster Bandages in Ambulance (uncredited) | |
| Kings of the Road | 1976 | Spectator at Pauline's Theater | |
| Alice in the Cities | 1974 | Man by Jukebox (uncredited) | |
| The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick | 1972 | Man Walking through Vienna Bus Station (uncredited) | |
| Summer in the City | 1971 | Billardspieler (uncredited) | |
| Candy Man | 1968 | Short | |
| Liebe und so weiter | 1968 |
Editor
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo-Ga | 1985 | Documentary | |
| Lightning Over Water | 1980 | Documentary definitive version | |
| 3 amerikanische LP's | 1969 | TV Short | |
| Alabama (2000 Light Years) | 1969 | Short | |
| Polizeifilm | 1969 | TV Short | |
| Silver City | 1969 | Short | |
| Same Player Shoots Again | 1968 | Short | |
| Schauplätze | 1967 | Short |
Cinematographer
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aufzeichnungen zu Kleidern und Städten | 1989 | Documentary | |
| Polizeifilm | 1969 | TV Short | |
| Amon Düül II spielt Phallus Dei | 1969 | Documentary short | |
| Silver City | 1969 | Short | |
| Ten Years After | 1969 | Documentary | |
| Same Player Shoots Again | 1968 | Short | |
| Schauplätze | 1967 | Short |
Miscellaneous
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Der fremde Fotograf und die Einsamkeit | 2012 | Short screenplay consultant / script supervisor | |
| Passage | 2009/III | Short support | |
| The 2008 European Film Awards | 2008 | TV Special president: European Film Academy | |
| Three Days of Rain | 2002 | presenter | |
| In the Shadow of Hollywood | 2000 | Documentary archive source | |
| Welcome to Germany | 1988 | consultant |
Camera Department
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Salt of the Earth | 2014 | Documentary still photographer | |
| The Soul of a Man | 2003 | Documentary dv camera operator | |
| Al di là delle nuvole | 1995 | still photographer | |
| I played It for You | 1984 | Documentary additional photographer | |
| Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers | 1980 | Documentary additional camera operator |
Sound Department
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sansibar oder Der letzte Grund | 1987 | TV Movie sound mixing advisor | |
| Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers | 1980 | Documentary extra sound | |
| Alabama (2000 Light Years) | 1969 | Short sound |
Production Manager
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Der Fall Lena Christ | 1970 | TV Movie unit manager |
Thanks
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soy Nero | 2016 | special thanks | |
| The Bicycle | 2015 | very special thanks | |
| Blood Pulls a Gun | 2014 | Short special thanks | |
| Nosferatu vs. Father Pipecock & Sister Funk | 2014 | special thanks | |
| Lauf Junge lauf | 2013 | thanks | |
| Surrounded | 2013 | Documentary short acknowledgment | |
| Das ist ja das Leben selbst! | 2012 | thanks | |
| Stories We Tell | 2012 | Documentary thanks | |
| Occupy Los Angeles | 2012 | Documentary special thanks | |
| Der fremde Fotograf und die Einsamkeit | 2012 | Short thanks | |
| On the Road | 2012 | thanks | |
| Bar25 | 2012 | Documentary special thanks | |
| Henrik | 2011 | Short thanks | |
| Neujahr | 2011 | Short thanks | |
| Kreisen | 2011 | Short thanks | |
| Zwischen den Zeiten | 2011 | Short thanks | |
| Am Draht | 2010 | Short thanks | |
| Bis es wieder dunkel wird | 2010 | Short thanks | |
| Problema | 2010 | Documentary very special thanks | |
| Zeit(en) und Porträt(s) | 2010 | Short thanks | |
| Between/Frames/Again | 2010 | Short thanks | |
| (Warum verkauft mein Vater seine) Plattensammlung? | 2010 | Documentary short thanks | |
| Glebs Film | 2010 | Documentary short thanks | |
| 102 PS | 2009 | Short thanks | |
| The Red Machine | 2009 | special thanks | |
| Onkel Dieter | 2009 | Short thanks | |
| Dance for All | 2008 | Documentary special thanks | |
| Gunnar: A Student Burns Out | 2008 | Short special thanks | |
| Mikrofan | 2007 | thanks | |
| The Inner Life of Martin Frost | 2007 | thanks | |
| Helmut Goettl. Als Künstler im Theater des Lebens | 2007 | Documentary short thanks | |
| La letra con sangre entra | 2006 | Short thanks - as Wim | |
| Gabra2 | 2006 | Short thanks | |
| Begleiter | 2006 | Short very special thanks | |
| Hotel Kalifornien | 2006 | Short thanks | |
| Der 12. Tag der Woche | 2006 | Short thanks | |
| Fahnenflucht | 2005 | Short special thanks | |
| Egoshooter | 2004 | thanks | |
| Around the World in 80 Days | 2004 | special thanks | |
| Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin | 2003 | Documentary special thanks | |
| Wings of Desire: The Angels Among Us | 2003 | Video documentary short acknowledgment: still photographs provided by / special thanks | |
| In the Shadow of Hollywood | 2000 | Documentary special thanks | |
| La otra conquista | 1998 | sincere thanks | |
| Adamski | 1993 | special thanks | |
| Madregilda | 1993 | thanks | |
| A dokumentátor | 1988 | thanks | |
| Der Rosenkönig | 1986 | thanks | |
| Der Hohe Wert der Apathie - 1. Kapitel | Short thanks post-production | ||
| Final Stage | 2017 | Short thanks |
Self
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Here Is Something Beautiful (Etc. | Documentary announced | Himself | |
| Arri 100 | 2017 | TV Series documentary | |
| Les Recettes Pompettes | 2017 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Trial: The State of Russia vs Oleg Sentsov | 2017 | Documentary | Himself |
| The 2016 European Film Awards | 2016 | TV Movie | Himself - Presenter |
| La grande librairie | 2016 | TV Series | Himself |
| Dennis Hopper: Uneasy Rider | 2016 | Documentary | |
| Acqua e zucchero: Carlo Di Palma, i colori della vita | 2016 | Documentary | |
| Return to Beethoven Street: Sam Fuller in Germany | 2016 | Video documentary | Himself |
| French cinema mon amour | 2015 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| The 2015 European Film Awards | 2015 | TV Movie | Himself - Presenter |
| Janela Indiscreta | 2015 | TV Series | Himself |
| Sociedade Recreativa | 2015 | TV Series | Himself |
| Cinema 3 | 1988-2015 | TV Series | Himself |
| Tria33 | 2015 | TV Series | Himself |
| La légende de la palme d'or | 2015 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Rencontres de cinéma | 2015 | TV Series | Himself |
| Volle Kanne | 2015 | TV Series | Himself |
| La noche de los Oscar | 2015 | TV Movie | Himself |
| The 87th Annual Academy Awards | 2015 | TV Special | Himself - Nominee: Best Documentary Feature |
| Was heißt hier Ende? | 2015 | Documentary | Himself |
| The 2014 European Film Awards | 2014 | TV Movie | Himself - Presenter |
| Anton Corbijn: Most Wanted | 2014 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Advanced Filmmaking | 2014 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| The Salt of the Earth | 2014 | Documentary | Himself / Narrator |
| Le Cinéma fait le Mur | 2014 | Documentary | |
| The 2013 European Film Awards | 2013 | TV Special | Himself - Presenter |
| A Fuller Life | 2013 | Documentary | Himself - Reader (segment "A River of Tears") |
| Doc Talk | 2012 | TV Series | Himself |
| The 2012 European Film Awards | 2012 | TV Special | Himself - Presenter |
| Close Up | 2012 | Documentary | Himself |
| Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction | 2012 | Documentary | Himself |
| Bam150 | 2012 | Documentary | |
| The 84th Annual Academy Awards | 2012 | TV Special | Himself - Nominee: Best Documentary Feature |
| Charlie Rose | 1999-2012 | TV Series | Himself - Guest |
| Gottschalk Live | 2012 | TV Series | Himself - per Liveschaltung |
| Bayerische Filmpreis 2011 | 2012 | TV Movie | Himself - Honoree |
| Q with Jian Ghomeshi | 2012 | TV Series | Himself - Guest |
| The 2011 European Film Awards | 2011 | TV Special | Himself - Winner European Film Academy Documentary - Prix ARTE |
| The Story of Film: An Odyssey | 2011 | TV Mini-Series documentary | Himself - Interviewee |
| Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard | 2011 | Documentary | Himself - Interviewee |
| Días de cine | 1994-2011 | TV Series | Himself |
| Heinz - Das Kurzfilmmagazin | 2011 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Fabulous Picture Show | 2011 | TV Series | Himself |
| Lola - Der Deutsche Filmpreis 2011 | 2011 | TV Special documentary | Himself - Winner: Best Documentary & Presenter: Best Cinematography |
| Viaggio in Bergmania | 2011 | Documentary | |
| Metropolis | 2011 | TV Series | Himself |
| Foyer - Das Theatermagazin | 2011 | TV Series | Himself |
| Mondo Lux - Die Bilderwelten des Werner Schroeter | 2011 | Documentary | Himself |
| Problema | 2010 | Documentary | Himself |
| Michel Ciment, le cinéma en partage | 2010 | Documentary | Himself |
| Gilles Jacob: CIitizen Cannes | 2010 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Sodankylä ikuisesti | 2010 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| The 2009 European Film Awards | 2009 | TV Special | Himself - Presenter |
| Di me cosa ne sai | 2009 | Documentary | Himself |
| Deutschland, deine Künstler | 2009 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Wim: An Afternoon with Wim Wenders | 2009 | Documentary short | Himself |
| Kinomacher | 2009 | Video documentary | Himself |
| The 2008 European Film Awards | 2008 | TV Special | Himself - Presenter |
| Nachtcafé | 2008 | TV Series | Himself |
| Dickes B. | 2008 | TV Series | Himself |
| Effedià - Sulla mia cattiva strada | 2008 | Documentary | Himself |
| Shooting Palermo | 2008 | Documentary | Himself |
| Back to Room 666 | 2008 | Documentary short | Himself |
| Dead On: The Life and Cinema of George A. Romero | 2008 | Documentary | Himself |
| Gegenschuss - Aufbruch der Filmemacher | 2008 | Documentary | Himself |
| Erika Rabau: Puck of Berlin | 2008 | Documentary | Himself |
| Auge in Auge - Eine deutsche Filmgeschichte | 2008 | Documentary | Himself |
| The 2007 European Film Awards | 2007 | TV Special | Himself |
| Diethnes Festival Kinimatografou Thessalonikis - 11+1 kinimatografistes | 2007 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Das Leben ist kein Fußballspiel - Auf der Suche nach dem Abseits: Teil 1 - Über die Linie | 2007 | Documentary short | Himself |
| Comment nous sommes tous devenus Américains | 2007 | Documentary | |
| Von einem der auszog - Wim Wenders' frühe Jahre | 2007 | Documentary | Himself |
| The 2006 European Film Awards | 2006 | TV Special | Himself |
| Wanderlust | 2006 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| The Art of Football from A to Z | 2006 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Das Leben ist kein Fußballspiel - Auf der Suche nach dem Abseits: Teil 3 - In der Abseitsfalle | 2006 | Documentary short | Himself |
| Das Leben ist kein Fußballspiel - Auf der Suche nach dem Abseits: Teil 4 - Eine Frage der Perspektive | 2006 | Documentary short | Himself |
| Das Leben ist kein Fußballspiel - Auf der Suche nach dem Abseits: Teil 5 (Verlängerung) -- passiv - aktiv - abseits | 2006 | Documentary short | Himself |
| Going Places | 2006 | Documentary | Himself |
| Still Alive: Film o Krzysztofie Kieslowskim | 2006 | Documentary | Himself |
| Im Palais | 2005 | TV Series | Himself |
| The 2005 European Film Awards | 2005 | TV Special | Himself - Nominee European Director |
| Riverboat - Die MDR-Talkshow aus Leipzig | 2005 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Die Johannes B. Kerner Show | 2005 | TV Series | Himself |
| NDR Talk Show | 2005 | TV Series | Himself |
| Lettre à un jeune cinéaste | 2005 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| B 360º | 2005 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Making of 'Land of Plenty' | 2005 | Short | Himself |
| Lo + plus | 1998-2005 | TV Series | Himself |
| The 2004 European Film Awards | 2004 | TV Special | Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Film |
| Sabine Christiansen | 2004 | TV Series | Himself |
| Edgar G. Ulmer - The Man Off-screen | 2004 | Documentary | Himself |
| Je t'aime... moi non plus: Artistes et critiques | 2004 | Documentary | Himself |
| Himmelfilm | 2004 | Documentary short | Himself |
| Wings of Desire: The Angels Among Us | 2003 | Video documentary short | Himself |
| Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die) | 2003 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments | 2002 | TV Special documentary | Himself |
| La mandrágora | 2002 | TV Series | Himself |
| Jonas at the Ocean | 2002 | Documentary | Himself |
| Fassbinder in Hollywood | 2002 | Documentary | Himself |
| Die Harald Schmidt Show | 2000-2002 | TV Series | Himself |
| Millionär gesucht! - Die SKL Show | 2002 | TV Series | Himself |
| The One Dollar Diary | 2001 | Documentary | Narrator |
| Janela da Alma | 2001 | Documentary | Himself |
| The 10 Commandments of Creativity | 2001 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| The Flux of Images | 2000 | TV Movie | Himself |
| Nosolomúsica | 2000 | TV Series | Himself |
| Bernd Eichinger - Wenn das Leben zum Kino wird | 2000 | TV Movie documentary | |
| Die goldene Kamera 2000 | 2000 | TV Movie | Himself |
| FreeDogme | 2000 | Video documentary | Himself |
| Berlin-Cinema | 1999 | Documentary | Himself |
| Nina Hagen = Punk + Glory | 1999 | Documentary | Himself |
| The World's Best Sellers: The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money | 1998 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Nulle part ailleurs | 1998 | TV Series | Himself |
| In Bildern leben | 1995 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Különbözö helyek | 1995 | Short documentary | Himself |
| Liebe in Hollywood | 1995 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| To Make a Film Is to Be Alive | 1995 | Documentary | Himself |
| Die Nacht der Regisseure | 1995 | Documentary | Himself (uncredited) |
| La nuit des Césars | 1995 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Kleiner Mann ganz groß | 1994 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Peter Przygodda, Schnittmeister | 1993 | Documentary | Himself |
| Talking with Ozu | 1993 | Documentary short | Himself |
| Colonna sonora | 1992 | Documentary | Himself |
| Schneeweißrosenrot | 1991 | Documentary | Himself |
| Motion and Emotion: The Films of Wim Wenders | 1990 | TV Movie documentary | |
| Picture of Europe | 1990 | TV Movie documentary | |
| Lunettes noires pour nuits blanches | 1990 | TV Series | Himself |
| Aufzeichnungen zu Kleidern und Städten | 1989 | Documentary | Himself |
| The 1988 European Film Awards | 1988 | TV Special | Himself |
| Océaniques - Des idées des hommes des oeuvres | 1988 | TV Series documentary | Lui-même - réalisateur |
| The Media Show | 1988 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Bains de minuit | 1988 | TV Series | Himself |
| I played It for You | 1984 | Documentary | Himself / 'Howard' |
| Cinématon | 1984 | Documentary | Participant |
| Korkörkép | 1984 | Video documentary short | Himself |
| Report from Hollywood | 1982 | Documentary | Himself |
| Reverse Angle: Ein Brief aus New York | 1982 | Documentary short | Himself |
| Chambre 666 | 1982 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Lightning Over Water | 1980 | Documentary | Himself |
| Omnibus | 1976 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Apropos Film | 1976 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| 3 amerikanische LP's | 1969 | TV Short | Himself (voice) |
Archive Footage
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geschichten aus der Salzburger Altstadt | 2016 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Dai nostri inviati: La Rai racconta la Mostra del cinema di Venezia 1980-1989 | 2013 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Kyôiku terebi no gyakushû: Yomigaeru kyoshô no kotoba | 2009 | TV Movie | Himself (as Vimu Vendâsu) |
| Cannes, 60 ans d'histoires | 2007 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Penélope, camino a los Oscar | 2007 | TV Movie documentary | Himself (uncredited) |
| Cinema mil | 2005 | TV Series | Himself |
| Épreuves d'artistes | 2004 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Cinefile: Made in the USA | 1993 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| 100 Jahre Adolf Hitler - Die letzte Stunde im Führerbunker | 1989 | Himself (uncredited) |
Won Awards
| Year | Award | Ceremony | Nomination | Movie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Cinema Brazil Grand Prize | Cinema Brazil Grand Prize | Best Foreign-Language Film (Melhor Filme Estrangeiro) | The Salt of the Earth (2014) |
| 2015 | Platino Award | The Platino Awards for Iberoamerican Cinema | Best Documentary | The Salt of the Earth (2014) |
| 2015 | Honorary Golden Berlin Bear | Berlin International Film Festival | ||
| 2015 | César | César Awards, France | Best Documentary Film (Meilleur film documentaire) | The Salt of the Earth (2014) |
| 2015 | Audience Award | Dublin International Film Festival | Audience Award | The Salt of the Earth (2014) |
| 2015 | Tribute Award | Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival | ||
| 2014 | One Future Prize | Munich Film Festival | The Salt of the Earth (2014) | |
| 2014 | Audience Award | San Sebastián International Film Festival | The Salt of the Earth (2014) | |
| 2014 | Audience Choice Award | Abu Dhabi Film Festival | The Salt of the Earth (2014) | |
| 2014 | Un Certain Regard - Special Jury Prize | Cannes Film Festival | The Salt of the Earth (2014) | |
| 2014 | Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention | Cannes Film Festival | The Salt of the Earth (2014) | |
| 2014 | François Chalais Award - Special Mention | Cannes Film Festival | The Salt of the Earth (2014) | |
| 2012 | Honorary Award | Bavarian Film Awards | ||
| 2012 | Cinema Eye Honors Award | Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US | Outstanding Achievement in Production | Pina (2011) |
| 2012 | German Film Critics Award | German Film Critics Association Awards | Best Documentary (Bester Dokumentarfilm) | Pina (2011) |
| 2011 | Audience Award - Honorable Mention | Philadelphia Film Festival | Special Events Screenings | Pina (2011) |
| 2011 | HAG Award | Rome Film Fest | Pina (2011) | |
| 2011 | Politiken's Audience Award | CPH:DOX | Pina (2011) | |
| 2011 | European Film Award | European Film Awards | European Documentary | Pina (2011) |
| 2011 | Film Award in Gold | German Film Awards | Best Documentary (Bester Dokumentarfilm) | Pina (2011) |
| 2011 | Best Documentary | Guild of German Art House Cinemas | Pina (2011) | |
| 2010 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Transilvania International Film Festival | ||
| 2009 | Burgas Municipality Award 'Silver Sea-Gull' | Sofia International Film Festival | Palermo Shooting (2008) | |
| 2008 | Humanitarian Award | São Paulo International Film Festival | ||
| 2008 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Yerevan International Film Festival | ||
| 2008 | Goya | Goya Awards | Best Documentary (Mejor Película Documental) | Invisibles (2007) |
| 2006 | Special Award | Camerimage | Director with Unique Visual Sensitivity | |
| 2005 | Leopard of Honor | Locarno International Film Festival | ||
| 2004 | UNESCO Award | Venice Film Festival | Land of Plenty (2004) | |
| 2004 | Master of Cinema | Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival | ||
| 2003 | Audience Award | São Paulo International Film Festival | Best Foreign Documentary | The Soul of a Man (2003) |
| 2001 | Yoga Award | Yoga Awards | Worst Foreign Director | The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) |
| 2001 | Cinema Brazil Grand Prize | Cinema Brazil Grand Prize | Best Foreign Film (Melhor Filme Estrangeiro) | Buena Vista Social Club (1999) |
| 2000 | Silver Clod | Norwegian International Film Festival | Best Foreign Film of the Year (Beste Utenlandske Spillefilm) | Buena Vista Social Club (1999) |
| 2000 | Hand Printing | Pusan International Film Festival | ||
| 2000 | Special Award | St. Petersburg Message to Man Film Festival | Buena Vista Social Club (1999) | |
| 2000 | Silver Berlin Bear | Berlin International Film Festival | Jury Prize | The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) |
| 2000 | Golden Camera | Golden Camera, Germany | Film - National | Buena Vista Social Club (1999) |
| 1999 | Golden Space Needle Award | Seattle International Film Festival | Best Documentary | Buena Vista Social Club (1999) |
| 1999 | Audience Award | Edinburgh International Film Festival | Buena Vista Social Club (1999) | |
| 1999 | European Film Award | European Film Awards | European Documentary | Buena Vista Social Club (1999) |
| 1999 | LAFCA Award | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film | Buena Vista Social Club (1999) |
| 1998 | Film Award in Gold | German Film Awards | Best Direction (Beste Regie) | The End of Violence (1997) |
| 1996 | Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Award | Day of the German Short Film | Die Gebrüder Skladanowsky (1995) | |
| 1995 | FIPRESCI Prize | Venice Film Festival | Al di là delle nuvole (1995) | |
| 1995 | Yoga Award | Yoga Awards | Worst Foreign Director | In weiter Ferne, so nah! (1993) |
| 1994 | Bavarian Film Award | Bavarian Film Awards | Best Direction (Regiepreis) | In weiter Ferne, so nah! (1993) |
| 1993 | Grand Prize of the Jury | Cannes Film Festival | In weiter Ferne, so nah! (1993) | |
| 1992 | Guild Film Award - Gold | Guild of German Art House Cinemas | German Film (Deutscher Film) | Bis ans Ende der Welt (1991) |
| 1992 | Prize of the City of Hof | Hof International Film Festival | ||
| 1991 | Critics Award | SESC Film Festival, Brazil | Best Foreign Film (Melhor Filme Estrangeiro) | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1991 | Audience Award | SESC Film Festival, Brazil | Best Foreign Film (Melhor Filme Estrangeiro) | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1989 | Blue Ribbon Award | Blue Ribbon Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1989 | Guild Film Award - Silver | Guild of German Art House Cinemas | German Film (Deutscher Film) | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1989 | Independent Spirit Award | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Foreign Film | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1988 | Audience Award | São Paulo International Film Festival | Best Feature | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1988 | Bavarian Film Award | Bavarian Film Awards | Best Direction (Regiepreis) | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1988 | European Film Award | European Film Awards | Best Director | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1988 | Critics Award | French Syndicate of Cinema Critics | Best Foreign Film | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1988 | LAFCA Award | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Foreign Film | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1987 | Best Director | Cannes Film Festival | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) | |
| 1986 | Critics Award | SESC Film Festival, Brazil | Best Foreign Film (Melhor Filme Estrangeiro) | Paris, Texas (1984) |
| 1986 | Nocciola d'Oro | Giffoni Film Festival | ||
| 1986 | Guild Film Award - Silver | Guild of German Art House Cinemas | German Film (Deutscher Film) | Paris, Texas (1984) |
| 1985 | Sant Jordi | Sant Jordi Awards | Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) | Paris, Texas (1984) |
| 1985 | BAFTA Film Award | BAFTA Awards | Best Direction | Paris, Texas (1984) |
| 1985 | Bodil | Bodil Awards | Best European Film (Bedste europæiske film) | Paris, Texas (1984) |
| 1985 | René Clair Award | David di Donatello Awards | Paris, Texas (1984) | |
| 1985 | Fotogramas de Plata | Fotogramas de Plata | Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) | Paris, Texas (1984) |
| 1985 | Critics Award | French Syndicate of Cinema Critics | Best Foreign Film | Paris, Texas (1984) |
| 1984 | Palme d'Or | Cannes Film Festival | Paris, Texas (1984) | |
| 1984 | FIPRESCI Prize | Cannes Film Festival | Paris, Texas (1984) | |
| 1984 | Prize of the Ecumenical Jury | Cannes Film Festival | Paris, Texas (1984) | |
| 1982 | Golden Lion | Venice Film Festival | Der Stand der Dinge (1982) | |
| 1982 | FIPRESCI Prize | Venice Film Festival | Der Stand der Dinge (1982) | |
| 1978 | Film Award in Gold | German Film Awards | Best Direction (Beste Regie) | Der Amerikanische Freund (1977) |
| 1977 | Bambi | Bambi Awards | Film - National | Im Lauf der Zeit (1976) |
| 1977 | Critics Award | German Critics Association Awards | Film | |
| 1976 | FIPRESCI Prize | Cannes Film Festival | Competition | Im Lauf der Zeit (1976) |
| 1976 | Gold Hugo | Chicago International Film Festival | Best Feature | Im Lauf der Zeit (1976) |
| 1976 | German Film Critics Award | German Film Critics Association Awards | Best Film (Bester Spielfilm) | Alice in den Städten (1974) |
| 1975 | Film Award in Gold | German Film Awards | Best Direction (Beste Regie) | Falsche Bewegung (1975) |
| 1972 | FIPRESCI Prize | Venice Film Festival | Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (1972) |
Nominated Awards
| Year | Award | Ceremony | Nomination | Movie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Golden Lion | Venice Film Festival | Best Film | Les beaux jours d'Aranjuez (2016) |
| 2015 | Oscar | Academy Awards, USA | Best Documentary, Feature | The Salt of the Earth (2014) |
| 2015 | David | David di Donatello Awards | Best Foreign Film (Miglior Film Straniero) | The Salt of the Earth (2014) |
| 2015 | Audience Award | European Film Awards | The Salt of the Earth (2014) | |
| 2015 | Goya | Goya Awards | Best European Film (Mejor Película Europea) | The Salt of the Earth (2014) |
| 2015 | Independent Spirit Award | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Documentary | The Salt of the Earth (2014) |
| 2014 | People's Choice Award | Melbourne International Film Festival | Best Documentary | The Salt of the Earth (2014) |
| 2014 | Films from the South Award | Oslo Films from the South Festival | Best Documentary Feature | The Salt of the Earth (2014) |
| 2014 | Un Certain Regard Award | Cannes Film Festival | The Salt of the Earth (2014) | |
| 2014 | Audience Choice Award | Chicago International Film Festival | Audience Choice Award | Cathedrals of Culture (2014) |
| 2014 | IDA Award | International Documentary Association | Best Feature | The Salt of the Earth (2014) |
| 2012 | Romy | Romy Gala, Austria | Best Direction (Beste Regie) | Pina (2011) |
| 2012 | White Elephant | Russian Guild of Film Critics | Best Foreign Film | Pina (2011) |
| 2012 | WGA Award (Screen) | Writers Guild of America, USA | Best Documentary Screenplay | Pina (2011) |
| 2012 | Oscar | Academy Awards, USA | Best Documentary, Features | Pina (2011) |
| 2012 | BAFTA Film Award | BAFTA Awards | Best Film Not in the English Language | Pina (2011) |
| 2012 | EDA Award | Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Documentary Feature Film | Pina (2011) |
| 2012 | EDA Award | Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Non-English Language Film | Pina (2011) |
| 2012 | Silver Condor | Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards | Best Foreign Film, Not in the Spanish Language (Mejor Película Extranjera) | Pina (2011) |
| 2012 | Gaudí Award | Gaudí Awards | Best European Film (Millor Pel·lícula Europea) | Pina (2011) |
| 2012 | Gold Derby Award | Gold Derby Awards | Documentary Feature | Pina (2011) |
| 2011 | Film Award in Gold | German Film Awards | Best Direction (Beste Regie) | Pina (2011) |
| 2008 | Palme d'Or | Cannes Film Festival | Palermo Shooting (2008) | |
| 2005 | Palme d'Or | Cannes Film Festival | Don't Come Knocking (2005) | |
| 2005 | European Film Award | European Film Awards | European Director | Don't Come Knocking (2005) |
| 2004 | Golden Lion | Venice Film Festival | Land of Plenty (2004) | |
| 2002 | Un Certain Regard Award | Cannes Film Festival | Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) | |
| 2001 | Grammy | Grammy Awards | Best Long Form Music Video | Willie Nelson at the Teatro (1998) |
| 2000 | Oscar | Academy Awards, USA | Best Documentary, Features | Buena Vista Social Club (1999) |
| 2000 | BAFTA Film Award | BAFTA Awards | Best Film not in the English Language | Buena Vista Social Club (1999) |
| 2000 | Golden Berlin Bear | Berlin International Film Festival | The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) | |
| 2000 | Film Award in Gold | German Film Awards | Best Direction (Beste Regie) | The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) |
| 2000 | Daring Digital Award | Jeonju Film Festival | N-Vision | Buena Vista Social Club (1999) |
| 1999 | ACCA | Awards Circuit Community Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | Buena Vista Social Club (1999) |
| 1998 | Independent Spirit Award | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Director | The End of Violence (1997) |
| 1997 | Palme d'Or | Cannes Film Festival | The End of Violence (1997) | |
| 1996 | Film Award in Gold | German Film Awards | Outstanding Feature Film (Bester Spielfilm) | Lisbon Story (1994) |
| 1996 | Silver Ribbon | Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists | Best Foreign Director (Regista del Miglior Film Straniero) | Lisbon Story (1994) |
| 1995 | Golden Spike | Valladolid International Film Festival | Al di là delle nuvole (1995) | |
| 1994 | Film Award in Gold | German Film Awards | Best Direction (Beste Regie) | In weiter Ferne, so nah! (1993) |
| 1994 | European Silver Ribbon | Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists | In weiter Ferne, so nah! (1993) | |
| 1993 | Palme d'Or | Cannes Film Festival | In weiter Ferne, so nah! (1993) | |
| 1993 | European Silver Ribbon | Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists | Bis ans Ende der Welt (1991) | |
| 1990 | Joris Ivens Award | Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival | Aufzeichnungen zu Kleidern und Städten (1989) | |
| 1989 | BAFTA Film Award | BAFTA Awards | Best Film not in the English Language | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1989 | Special Film Award '40th Anniversary of the Federal Republic of Germany' | German Film Awards | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) | |
| 1988 | César | César Awards, France | Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger) | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1988 | European Film Award | European Film Awards | Best Film | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1987 | Palme d'Or | Cannes Film Festival | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) | |
| 1985 | César | César Awards, France | Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger) | Paris, Texas (1984) |
| 1985 | David | David di Donatello Awards | Best Foreign Film (Miglior Film Straniero) | Paris, Texas (1984) |
| 1983 | Film Award in Gold | German Film Awards | Best Direction (Beste Regie) | Der Stand der Dinge (1982) |
| 1982 | Palme d'Or | Cannes Film Festival | Hammett (1982) | |
| 1980 | Gold Hugo | Chicago International Film Festival | Best Documentary | Lightning Over Water (1980) |
| 1978 | César | César Awards, France | Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger) | Der Amerikanische Freund (1977) |
| 1977 | Palme d'Or | Cannes Film Festival | Der Amerikanische Freund (1977) | |
| 1976 | Palme d'Or | Cannes Film Festival | Im Lauf der Zeit (1976) | |
| 1975 | Gold Hugo | Chicago International Film Festival | Best Feature | Falsche Bewegung (1975) |
| 1974 | Gold Hugo | Chicago International Film Festival | Best Feature | Alice in den Städten (1974) |
2nd Place Awards
| Year | Award | Ceremony | Nomination | Movie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Audience Award | Palm Springs International Film Festival | Best Documentary Feature | The Salt of the Earth (2014) |
3rd Place Awards
| Year | Award | Ceremony | Nomination | Movie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | NSFC Award | National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA | Best Director | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
| 1988 | NYFCC Award | New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Director | Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) |
Known for movies
The Salt of the Earth (2014)
as Director
Wings of Desire (1987)
as Director
Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
as Director
Pina (2011)
as Director