One Who Set Forth – Wim Wenders′ Early Years

"I am my own history", is how the character Kamikaze responds to the question "who are you?" in Wim Wenders′ "Kings of the Road". Drawing parallels between his early films and his personal biography, this documentary traces Wim Wender′s own history, focussing on the director′s life prior to his leaving Germany for the USA after his international breakthrough with "The American Friend" (1976/77). In intimate conversations, Wim Wenders talks about his sheltered upbringing in post-war Oberhausen. The film follows him on a journey into the past that takes him to Paris, where he lived as a young painter and made his decision to become a filmmaker. He recounts his experiences, successes and failures as a film student on the way to becoming a director. He also conveys the attitudes and the euphoric mood among the first intake of students at Munich′s newly founded film school.

Apart from Wenders himself, some of his most important fellow-travellers also have their say, including Peter Handke, Robby Müller, Rüdiger Vogler, Bruno Ganz and Lisa Kreuzer. As they remember, they discuss some of the fundamental, recurring themes of Wenders′ films – such as the search for identity, friendship and communication. These exponents also discuss their own personal experiences of Wenders – on both private and professional levels. Excerpts from Wenders′ early works illustrate how, time and again, the filmmaker was portraying people he knew and experiences that were authentic. This is just one of the ways in which this documentary sheds new light on the early films of Wim Wenders.

Source: 57. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)