27/08/2024 - The German director will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award during this year's edition of the European Film Academy accolades

On the occasion of this year's 37th European Film Awards and in recognition of a unique contribution to the world of film, the European Film Academy will present the European Lifetime Achievement Award for an outstanding body of work to German director Wim Wenders, who will be an honorary guest at the awards ceremony on 7 December in Lucerne.

“With this award, we celebrate Wim Wenders’ outstanding body of work, which keeps exploring and experimenting with a curious eye and an open mind,” says Matthijs Wouter Knol, CEO and director of the European Film Academy. “As one of the founding members of the European Film Academy, its chairman from 1990 until 1995 and president until 2020, Wim Wenders has a strong connection to the European Film Academy, and we're additionally happy to also celebrate his outstanding commitment and say thank you,” he adds.

Often hailed as one of the most important German directors on the international scene, Wenders has received various international awards, including the German Film Award (Wrong Move, 1975, The American Friend, 1977, The End of Violence, 1997), the Golden Lion (The State of Things, 1982), the Palme d’Or, the Italian David di Donatello Award and the BAFTA (Paris, Texas, 1984), as well as twice the European Film Award (Wings of Desire, 1987, and Pina [+see also:
trailer
interview: Wim Wenders
film profile], 2011), and a Silver Bear (The Million Dollar Hotel, 2000). In 2023, he returned with Perfect Days [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which won the Best Actor Award in Cannes and was subsequently nominated for an Oscar.

Throughout his career, Wim Wenders has made several unconventional documentaries including Lightning over Water (1980), Tokyo-Ga (1985), Buena Vista Social Club (1999), winner of a European Film Award and nominated for an Oscar. Both Pina (2011) and The Salt of the Earth (2014) were also nominated for an Oscar.

Wenders was a founding member and president of the European Film Academy from 1996-2020. He received the Leopard of Honour at Locarno in 2005, an Honorary Golden Bear in 2015 and the Prix Lumière in Lyon in 2023. In 2012, he and his wife Donata Wenders initiated the Wim Wenders Foundation to gather all of his creative work and make it permanently accessible to the public. In co-operation with the foundation, the film-funding institution Film- und Medienstiftung NRW annually bestows the Wim Wenders Grant for innovative storytelling to support young filmmakers.