In Theatres: PINA

Coming to theatres this Friday, December 23: PINA

Wim Wenders’ 3D celebration of the legendary German choreographer and her legacy premiered at the beginning of the year at the Berlin Film Festival, and came to North America this Fall with much-talked-about screenings at Telluride, Toronto, and the New York Film Festival. The film has already won Best Documentary at the European Film Awards and opens nationwide next month after its initial theatrical release in NYC.

While the master director had discussed collaborating with Bausch long ago, an uncertainty about how to capture dance on film stalled the project for years. With developments in 3D film technology allowing Wenders’ camera to approximate the immersive experience of watching a live performance, the project moved forward. When Bausch died in 2009, Wenders was ready to abandon the project, but credits her dancers’ dedication to her work as spurring him on to complete the film, creating an elegy for her that also serves as a catharsis. Utilizing 3D in a jaw-dropping way, Wenders brings the audience a privileged vantage point to witness Bausch’s creativity and her dancers’ remarkable virtuosity and beauty. Blending these 3D performance with the personal perspectives of various members of Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal ensemble, some of whom worked with Pina for decades, results in a dance film rather unlike any other – one which seems poised to draw even the most hardened non-dance fans into its world.