Ernst Wilhelm Wenders, a renowned German filmmaker, was born on August 14, 1945, in Düsseldorf, which was then located in the British Occupation Zone of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland, also known as West Germany.
Initially, Wenders studied to become a physician before switching to philosophy, but he terminated his studies in 1965. He then moved to Paris with the intention of becoming a painter, but he fell in love with cinema and failed to gain admission to the French national film school.
To support himself, Wenders worked as an engraver while attending movie houses. Upon his return to West Germany in 1967, he was employed by United Artists at its Düsseldorf office before being accepted by the University of Television and Film Munich school for its autumn 1967 semester.
During his time at film school, Wenders worked as a newspaper film critic and made a feature film as part of his studies, Summer in the City (1971). He gained recognition as part of the German New Wave of the 1970s, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Werner Herzog.
Wenders' second feature, The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1972),brought him acclaim, as did Alice in the Cities (1974) and Kings of the Road (1976). His 1977 feature, The American Friend (1977),starring Dennis Hopper, represented his international breakthrough and earned him a Palme d'Or nomination at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival.
Wenders was given the opportunity to direct in America by producer Francis Ford Coppola, but his film Hammett (1982) was a critical and commercial failure. However, his American-made Paris, Texas (1984) received critical acclaim, winning three awards at Cannes, including the Palme d'Or, and Wenders won a BAFTA for best director.
Wenders' greatest success came with his 1987 film, Wings of Desire (1987),which he made back in Germany. The film brought him the best director award at Cannes and was a solid hit, even spawning an egregious Hollywood remake.
Wenders followed up with a critical and commercial flop in 1991, Until the End of the World (1991),though his 1993 film, Faraway, So Close!, won the Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes. Despite this, his reputation as a feature film director never quite recovered in the United States after the failure of "Until the End of the World."
Since the mid-1990s, Wenders has distinguished himself as a non-fiction filmmaker, directing several highly acclaimed documentaries, including Buena Vista Social Club (1999) and Pina (2011),both of which brought him Oscar nominations.
