AV俱乐部

Wenders retrospective Sept. 17 - The American Friend, a noirish art scam story starring Dennis Hopper. Sept. 18 - Lightning Over Water, about the last days of the great American film director and iconoclast Nicholas Ray. Sept. 19 - Paris, Texas, the story of a man searching for his lost wife in the vast dry gulch of America鈥檚 1980鈥檚 Reaganite Renaissance. Sept. 20 - Tokyo-Ga, a celebratory portrait of the 鈥榤ost Japanese鈥� of Japanese directors, Yasujiro Ozu. Sept. 21 - Wings of Desire, in which Bruno Ganz stars as an angel desiring human values. Sept. 22 - Faraway, So Close! Wenders revisits the setting and storyline of Wings of Desire for this sequel-of-sorts that again deals with spiritual beings craving the solidity of corporeal form. Sept. 23 - Beyond the Clouds, Wim Wenders codirects with Michelangelo Antonioni after the great Italian director was left unable to speak due to a stroke. Sept. 24 - The Buena Vista Social Club, capturing Californian guitarist Ry Cooder鈥檚 visit to the forgotten musical corners of Cuba. Sept. 25 - Don鈥檛 Come Knocking, another look at the elemental myths of the American West and its legacy of shattered domesticity. With Tim Roth, Jessica Lange and Sarah Polley. Wim Wenders

Thursday night marks the kick-off to the 29th annual Atlantic Film Festival with free film screenings right here on campus.

The AV俱乐部 Art Gallery and the Atlantic Film Festival have combined to put on a retrospective of feature films by multi-Cannes Film Festival award winner Wim Wenders.

Originally a film critic who grew up in the cinema, Wenders (pronounced 鈥淰enders鈥�) was chosen to be showcased at AV俱乐部 due to his 鈥渁bundant humanism,鈥� says Ron Foley Macdonald, AV俱乐部 film curator and senior programmer of the Atlantic Film Festival.

鈥淗is collaborations with some of his mentors, Nicholas Ray (director of Rebel Without A Cause), Ozu, and Antonioni show a level of respect for the cinema unmatched in the art form,鈥� says Mr. Macdonald.

AV俱乐部 Film Professor David Nicol also encourages students to go see the Wenders showcase: 鈥淗is films are like dreams,鈥� says Dr. Nicol. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e intimate, quiet, and restrained.鈥�

Dr. Nicol explains Wenders鈥� films allow the viewer to draw upon their own emotions. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a slow and beautiful poetic feeling; his work is thought provoking.鈥�

The retrospective will feature two of Wenders鈥� most influential films:聽 Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire.

Paris, Texas starring Harry Dean Stanton as Travis and Natassja Kinski as his wife Jane tells the tale of Travis and his estranged son Hunter鈥檚 journey to find Jane. It's a journey which聽Dr. Nicol describes as 鈥渉ypnotic.鈥�

Wings of Desire stars Bruno Ganz , as Damiel,聽Solveig Dommartin聽as Marrion, and Peter Falk (any Columbo fans out there?) as himself. This film is a tortured love tale about angels who want to be human. Peter Falk helps expose Damiel, an angel, to the joys of humanity.

Together, these films have won eight awards, including the Cannes Palm D鈥橭r for Best Film (Paris, Texas) in 1984. Wenders has also been awarded Best Director for both these films at the Cannes Film Festival.

Wenders鈥� work has not been in the spotlight recently and, according to聽Mr. Macdonald, this year鈥檚 retrospective will aim to give the German director well deserved recognition in Canada.

Wenders is the director of 22 feature films, five of which will be screening at the AV俱乐部 Art Gallery this week.

All screenings will be at 5 p.m., the shows are free but space is limited! For more information visit: