Wim Wenders in Venice Competition with "The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez" (31.8. – 10.9.2016)

The drama "The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez", Wim Wenders' latest film, will have its world premiere in the Competition of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. The international co-production shot in 3D is the fifth collaboration between Wenders and Peter Handke and was backed by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, among others. "We want to congratulate Wim Wenders and his team on being invited to compete for the Golden Lion and wish them lots of success at the Venice Film Festival," CEO Petra Müller said.

¨The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez¨ is based on the eponymous stage play by Peter Handke. The cast under Wim Wenders' direction features Sophie Semin, Reda Kateb and Jens Harzer, with Nick Cave playing himself. The film is a co-production by Neue Road Movies with Alfama Films Production (F) and was backed by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the German Federal Film Board (FFA) together with the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. NFP marketing + distribution will be releasing the film in German cinemas on 24 November, 2016 and Alfama Films Production is handling world sales.

Handke and Wenders had previously collaborated on ¨3 American LPs¨ (1969), "The Goalkeeper’s Fear of the Penalty" (1971), ¨Wrong Movement" (1975), and "Wings of Desire" (1987). The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW has already backed several of Wenders' films, including the Oscar-nominated "Pina" or "Palermo Shooting". The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW has also been working with the Wim Wenders Foundation since 2014 to award the Wim Wenders Grant as a way of promoting innovative narrative cinematic.

The Mostra internazionale d’arte cinematografica di Venezia is being held for the 73rd time this year. It is not only regarded as the world’s oldest still existing film festival, but also numbers alongside Cannes and Berlin as one of the three most important festivals of its kind.

Apart from "The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez", the festival is also showing the Filmstiftung-backed "Toni Erdmann" by Maren Ade this year as one of the three finalists in the European Parliament’s LUX Prize during the independent Venice Days. The film festival is part of the Biennale for contemporary art in Venice and annually awards the Golden Lion as the Grand Prix. The Filmstiftung-backed docu-essay "Francofonia" by Alexander Sokurov received the FEDEORA Award last year in the category of ¨Venice 72¨ as the best European competition film.