September, 2004 - Nr. 9
Wenders film to compete at Venice Film Festival
TWIG - Wim Wenders’s new film "Land of Plenty," will compete as the only German entry in this year’s 61st annual Venice International Film Festival. The film is an intimate portrait of the United States seen through the eyes of the director, a longtime resident of the country.
"Land of Plenty" was created over the course of just a few weeks, from the writing of the screenplay until filming wrapped in summer 2003. It stars Michelle Williams, a young American actress known for her work in the teen teledrama "Dawson’s Creek," and John Diehl, an older avant-garde character actor. The two actors play diametrically opposed characters that reflect different aspects of public life in the United States.
"Angst and Alienation in America," the film’s working title, was perhaps a less ambiguous description of the film’s content. "One can’t be silent about the politics of the current U.S. administration, especially when one lives in the United States," Wenders told the magazine "Absatzwirtschaft."
But like many Europeans who live in the United States, Wenders has spoken out against across-the-board criticism of the country. Wenders insists that his politicized view of U.S. politics has done nothing to diminish his love of his chosen home. In turn, "Land of Plenty," while not a documentary, seems less like a love letter to the United States than the kind of letter you write in anger and then rewrite later with clearer vision. As a curious cultural investigator, Wenders has said that he wanted to look at America lovingly as a resident as well as critically through European eyes.
Wenders completed all of his filming in New York and Los Angeles, using only digital camera material. Always interested in experimenting with new filming techniques, "Land of Plenty" follows his work on the Blues Legend Series, "The Soul of a Man," filmed partially using a hand-cranked camera from the 1920’s.
Perhaps best known for his phenomenal work on "The Buena Vista Social Club," Wenders was the last German film director to win the Venice Film Festival’s highest honor, the Golden Lion, for his 1982 film "Der Stand der Dinge" ("The State of Affairs"). He is also president of the European Film Academy.
Last year, German actress Katja Riemann, star of Margarethe
von Trotta’s film "Rosenstrasse" ("The Women from Rose Street"), took home
the Golden Lion for best actress at the festival.
Republished with permission from "The Week in Germany"
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