Three time Oscar nominated director, Wim Wenders, will be honored with the lifetime achievement award at the 76th German Film Awards. The award show will take place in Berlin on May 29th. Wenders previously received a lifetime achievement award in 2024 from the European Film Academy.

Wenders has gained notoriety in the international arthouse scene. His cult classic, Paris, Texas, was awarded the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival in 1984 and he received his three Oscar nominations for documentaries, Buena Vista Social Club (2000), Pina (2012), and The Salt of the Earth (2015). One of his most recent features, Perfect Days, was also nominated for a Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2023.

The German Film Academy’s decision to honor him with the achievement award can be viewed as support for the iconic director after he came under fire earlier this year at the Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale) for his comment stating that filmmakers “have to stay out of politics”. The comment was in response to a question about Israel-Gaza and was not taken lightly as it was interpreted as Wenders advocating for censorship. This led to over 100 artists signing an open letter criticizing both Wenders and Berlinale.

Despite the backlash, The German Film Academy remains faithful to him. As she announced the honor, Academy president Florian Gallenberger praised the director stating that he’s “an absolutely unique filmmaker who has been an icon of world cinema for over five decades.”