German Film Director Gets Award From Vatican Official

VENICE, Italy, SEPT. 10, 2004 (Zenit.org).- A Vatican official conferred the 2004 Robert Bresson Award on German movie director Wim Wenders this week at the Venice Film Festival.

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The award was instituted by an Italian cultural institution that collaborates with the pontifical councils for Social Communications and for Culture, Vatican Radio reported.

When awarding the prize, Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, explained that in Wenders’ films “we find many meditative moments of high spirituality on the meaning of life, evil, death and the beyond.”

On Thursday, the German director presented his latest work, “The Land of Abundance,” a reflection on the United States after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“The movies are not just amusement; they can also be a source of reflection,” Archbishop Foley told Vatican Radio. “I think that Wim Wenders has realized this task in his films.”

“He has received a licentiate in theology from the University of Fribourg,” the prelate noted. “Therefore, he has an important theological formation and this has profoundly influenced his work.”

Wenders acknowledged during the ceremony his admiration for Robert Bresson, especially because the latter’s films were made with “poverty of means and I think that poverty is one of the ‘means’ to live Christianity,” he said.

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