Germany

Synopsis

PINA is a film for Pina Bausch by Wim Wenders. The feature-length dance film was shot in 3D with the ensemble of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch and shows the exhilarating and inimitable art of the great German choreographer who died in the summer of 2009. The film invites the viewer on a sensual, visually stunning journey of discovery into a new dimension: right onto the stage of the legendary ensemble and together with the dancers beyond the theatre, into the city and the surrounding industrial landscape of Wuppertal – the place that was the home and centre of Pina Bausch’s creative life for more than 35 years.

Director's Statement

After the sudden death of Pina Bausch in the summer of 2009 – in the middle of joint preparations before shooting – Wim Wenders, after a period of mourning and reflection, had to re-think and start again with his film about and with Pina Bausch. The result was a film for Pina Bausch. Using the choreographies which had been jointly selected – “Café Müller“, “Le Sacre du printemps“, “Vollmond“ and “Kontakthof“, - and using some images and audio files of her life as well as 3D recordings of individual ensemble members of the Tanztheater Wuppertal who in spring of 2010 danced personal memories of the precise, critical and loving nature of their great mentor. During more than 20 years of personal friendship, Wim Wenders and Pina Bausch never lost sight of their idea to make a dance film together. But only now, with the latest possibilities created by digital 3D technology, did Wim Wenders find the aesthetic means to bring the unique plasticity and emotional expressiveness of Pina Bausch’s innovative Tanztheater to the cinema screen. Only now can the dimension of the space be reproduced in the cinema. It is this dimension in which movement and dance take place, and into which the new 3D cinema can take the viewer on a sensual journey of discovery.
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Cast & Crew

Directed by: Wim Wenders

Written by: Wim Wenders

Produced by: Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel

Cinematography: Hélène Louvart

Editing: Toni Froschhammer

Production Design: Peter Pabst

Original Score: Thom Hanreich

Nominations and Awards

  • European Documentary Award – Prix Arte 2011