Wim Wenders: Cinema and the 'art of getting lost'

For Wim Wenders, getting lost is not a failure but a form of bliss.

"When you're lost, you really abandon yourself and you are there," he told DW.

For over five decades, the German filmmaker has invited audiences to lose themselves in his films that drift through unfamiliar landscapes and quiet emotional spaces.

As Wenders turns 80 this August, the Bundeskunsthalle in the western German city of Bonn is presenting a major retrospective exhibition that showcases his expansive body of work — including film, photography, etchings and writing — all revolving around the enduring theme of what it means to move through the world.

A wanderer born amid ruins

Movement for Wenders was never just about distance — it was about discovery. Born in Düsseldorf in 1945, near the end of World War II, he grew up in a city almost entirely reduced to rubble.

At the exhibition's launch, Wenders — who often refers to himself as a traveler — recalled the surreal contrast between postwar Germany and the distant places he discovered through his grandfather's encyclopedia and his father's newspapers.

"That was a huge discovery for me and that was the driving force of my life. The world was better. I always wanted to know everything about it … If I had stayed home, I wouldn't be here," he said.

That childhood yearning to explore laid the foundation for a creative career spanning continents and genres.

Roads to revelations

Wenders began making films in the 1970s, emerging as a key figure in the New German Cinema movement alongside fellow filmmakers Werner Herzog and Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

His road movie trilogy — "Alice in the Cities," "The Wrong Move" and "Kings of the Road" — explores one of his central themes: people in motion, emotionally and physically, searching for connection or belonging.

His international reputation was cemented by "Paris, Texas" (1984), a haunting exploration of loss and redemption set in the American Southwest. The film follows a man who emerges from the desert with no memory and embarks on a journey to reconnect with his young son. Now considered a classic, it earned Wenders both the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the BAFTA for best director.

The 1987 film "Wings of Desire" features angels — one of Wenders' favorite motifs — floating above a divided postwar Berlin, observing life below until one falls in love with the human world. It reportedly inspired the 1998 Meg Ryan-Nicholas Cage film "City of Angels," though some critics felt the remake did a disservice to Wenders' original.

Of solitude and sound

More recently, "Perfect Days" (2023), a quiet character study set in Tokyo, follows a janitor whose simple routines reveal joy, isolation and the sacredness of daily life. The film won Koji Yakusho the best actor award at Cannes and was selected as Japan's official entry for the 2024 Academy Awards.

That same year, Wenders released "Anselm," a 3D documentary portrait of German painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer — his contemporary, born three months apart.

"Every film is a journey," Wenders once said, "not just physically, but a journey toward understanding something."

And what is a journey without a soundtrack? Music has always played a crucial role in Wenders' work. A standout example is the Oscar-nominated "Buena Vista Social Club" (1999), in which he traced the story of aging Cuban musicians rising from obscurity to global renown. The Grammy-winning album of the same name not only sold over 8 million copies worldwide, but it also revived worldwide interest in traditional Cuban music.

Wenders has even directed music videos, including U2's "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)."

The art of seeing — by getting lost

Beyond film, Wenders has long been a prolific photographer, known for stark images of abandoned spaces, overlooked corners and long, silent roads. His photography reflects his filmmaking, focusing on emptiness, stillness and the dignity of space.

Meanwhile, Wenders' own explorations continue. In addition to several trips to China, he has finally checked India off his bucket list. "I traveled through India for four weeks. I still haven't [been] to Patagonia, one of my earliest dreams ... I have never [been to] Antarctica [or] the North Pole. I've avoided cold zones. I know all the warm parts of the planet, but not all the cold ones," he joked to DW.

Wenders also recalled — almost wistfully — the pre-digital era, when getting lost deliberately in new cities was possible. "In all the big cities of the world, I tried to get lost when I got there for the first time. And when I managed to get lost, I think I really understood the city — but only then," he said.

With GPS on every phone and maps everywhere, truly getting lost feels rare — making it all the more important to Wenders. "When you're lost, you see," he said. "If you have your map and you know your way, you don't see as much as when you're lost."

As the exhibition at the Bundeskunsthalle opens, one doesn't need to be a Wenders fan to be drawn in. His work speaks to anyone who has ever felt out of place or longed for something more. His stories remind us that by getting lost, we may discover new ways of seeing — not just the world, but ourselves.

W.I.M. The Art Of Seeing at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn, Germany, runs through to January 11, 2026.

Edited by: J. Wingard