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Wim Wenders on Why He Made a Documentary About Architect Peter Zumthor, and How Brad Pitt Helped Get It Made
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In Short: Wim Wenders' 3D documentary 'From Inside Out' had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, offering a deep dive into the work of Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor.
Wim Wenders' 3D documentary 'From Inside Out' had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, offering a deep dive into the work of Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. The film, which examines Zumthor's design philosophy and his largest building, the David Geffen Galleries at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), was commissioned by British architect David Chipperfield for the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale. Wenders first encountered Zumthor's work through a competition for a gallery building in Berlin, where the architect's design was not built but caught Wenders' attention.
The film, which took 14 years to complete, includes appearances by filmmakers Ava DuVernay and Werner Herzog, actress Ever Anderson, singer-songwriter Sophie Hunger, visual artist Tarek Atoui, and actress and dancer Aoi Yamada. Brad Pitt serves as an executive producer, supporting Zumthor's LACMA bid. Wenders explains, 'Zumthor works in quite a radical way, and his work is truly rethinking the very basis of what architecture is or can be.
Wenders, who has spent much of the past three decades building portraits of other artists, says, 'I have loved architecture since my childhood and always wanted to know more about the work of an architect. Zumthor seemed like an ideal partner, as his work is truly rethinking the very basis of what architecture is or can be.' The film aims to capture the essence of Zumthor's architectural philosophy, which Wenders describes as 'inventing and improving the film—or the building—as you are making it.
The documentary also touches on the challenges of creating serene spaces in a world of flattened cities, with Wenders stating, 'But they can change our idea of what the world could be.' The film uses 3D technology to bring Zumthor's buildings to life, allowing viewers to experience the spaces in a new way. Wenders adds, 'Little did we know that the journey would last 14 years, but it was worth it to capture the essence of Zumthor's work.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- Variety submitted a series of questions to the director about the film, and publishes his written responses below: When did you first meet Peter Zumthor?
- As a commission for the 13th Architecture Biennale, I made a short film on him: “Notes From a Day in the Life of an Architect.” We got along great and decided to do “something real” together, a long feature film.
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- I would not have made it if the new medium hadn’t allowed me to work in the same realm as Pina and her dancers.
- Wim Wenders has spent much of the past three decades building portraits of other artists — the Cuban musicians of Buena Vista Social Club (1999), the choreographer Pina Bausch in Pina (2011), the photographer Sebastião Salgado in The Salt of the Earth (2014), the German painter-sculptor Anselm Kiefer in Anslem (2023).
- That became a two-day shoot in the architect’s modest office in Haldenstein, high in the Swiss mountains, and the 2012 short Notes on a Day in the Life of an Architect — along with the nagging sense that he had barely scratched the surface.
Sources
- Variety link