{ "id": "epf0whr0hp", "slug": "anselm", "title": "Anselm", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary", "label": "Documentary and biographical films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary.biopics-by-profession-arts", "label": "Biographical films of musicians, artists, and writers", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary.biopics-by-profession-arts" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary.biopics-by-profession-arts.biographical-films-about-visual-and-perf", "label": "Biographical films about visual and performing artists", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary.biopics-by-profession-arts.biographical-films-about-visual-and-perf" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary", "label": "Western Europe · 2021 and later: Documentary and biographical films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021", "label": "Western Europe · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary", "label": "Documentary and biographical films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Anselm (2023) is Wim Wenders' 3D, 6K documentary portrait of German painter Anselm Kiefer, shot over two years at his French studios, premiered at Cannes, released by Sideshow and Janus Films.", "snippet": "Anselm (2023) is Wim Wenders' 3D, 6K documentary portrait of German painter Anselm Kiefer, shot over two years at his French studios, premiered at Cannes, released by Sideshow and Janus Films.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary.biopics-by-profession-arts.biographical-films-about-visual-and-perf", "markdown": "# Anselm\n\n*Anselm* is a 2023 German 3D documentary film directed by [Wim Wenders](https://www.edgepedia.org/wim-wenders) about the German painter and sculptor [Anselm Kiefer](https://www.edgepedia.org/anselm-kiefer), one of the most prominent contemporary artists. Shot natively in 3D at 6K resolution, the film follows Kiefer at work in his studios in France and Germany, interweaves archival footage and staged biographical scenes, and traces a career of more than five decades devoted to confronting Germany's Nazi past and postwar culture of silence.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/anselm/) • [2](https://cdn.festival-cannes.com/media/uploads/2023/05/159298.pdf)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director / subject | Wim Wenders; Anselm Kiefer, with Daniel Kiefer as the young Anselm and Anton Wenders as Anselm as a boy[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/anselm/) |\n| Premiere | Cannes Film Festival 2023, Special Screenings section[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/anselm/) |\n| Format | Shot natively in 3D at 6K resolution; 93 minutes; German and English[2](https://cdn.festival-cannes.com/media/uploads/2023/05/159298.pdf) • [3](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/anselm/) |\n| Production | Road Movies Filmproduktion; producer Karsten Brünig; cinematography Franz Lustig; music Leonard Küßner; editing Maxine Goedicke[4](https://www.criterion.com/films/34053-anselm) |\n| Filming | Seven shooting sessions from early 2020 to late 2022, 37 shooting days in total[5](https://filmmakermagazine.com/121417-interview-wim-wenders-anselm-cannes-2023-3d/) • [6](https://britishcinematographer.co.uk/franz-lustig-anselm/) |\n| Reception | Metascore 82 from 24 positive reviews and none mixed or negative; 98% on the Tomatometer from 54 reviews[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/anselm/critic-reviews/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/anselm) |\n| US release | December 8, 2023, limited, by Sideshow and Janus Films; US gross $42.6K[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/anselm) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Subject and approach\n\nThe film is a portrait of Kiefer at work rather than a conventional biography. Critics described it as \"more a portrait of Kiefer's work than a standard biographical study of Kiefer himself\"[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/anselm/critic-reviews/). Wenders films the artist pouring molten lead onto canvases, incinerating straw-matted surfaces with a flamethrower (an assistant stands by with a hose), and riding a bicycle through his hangar-like atelier at Croissy-Beaubourg near Paris, past shelves of accumulated materials rising to the ceiling[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/anselm-wim-wenderss-innovative-3d-documentary-immerses-viewer-art-anselm-kiefer) • [10](https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/12/05/wim-wenders-takes-a-3d-journey-through-anselm-kiefers-studios-and-catalogue).\n\n**Locations.** Much of the film takes place at Kiefer's studio complex in Barjac in southern France, which [Sight and Sound](https://www.edgepedia.org/sight-and-sound) describes as a 200-acre art compound[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/anselm-wim-wenderss-innovative-3d-documentary-immerses-viewer-art-anselm-kiefer); WBUR, describing the same site under its name La Ribaute, a defunct factory Kiefer turned into a sprawling exhibition of sculpture and painting, gives its area as 96 acres[11](https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/01/05/documentary-anselm-wim-wenders-review). The Art Newspaper identifies the artist's newer studio-estate in the south of France as the Eschaton Foundation[10](https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/12/05/wim-wenders-takes-a-3d-journey-through-anselm-kiefers-studios-and-catalogue).\n\n**History and memory.** Kiefer's work confronts Germany's Nazi past and the postwar silence in which he and Wenders, both born in Germany in 1945 in the last months of World War II, came of age[3](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/anselm/) • [11](https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/01/05/documentary-anselm-wim-wenders-review). The film includes a 1969 television interview in which the young Kiefer defends *Occupations*, the action in which he photographed himself wearing his father's [Wehrmacht](https://www.edgepedia.org/wehrmacht) uniform and performing the [Nazi salute](https://www.edgepedia.org/nazi-salute), banned in Germany since 1945, at European historical sites; he called it \"a protest against forgetting\"[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/anselm-wim-wenderss-innovative-3d-documentary-immerses-viewer-art-anselm-kiefer) • [12](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-nameless-and-forgotten-ones-on-wim-wenderss-anselm). Present-day Kiefer offers no retrospective commentary on these controversies in the film; instead he is heard quoting figures who run through his work, notably the Jewish poet [Paul Celan](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-celan) and the philosopher Martin Heidegger[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/anselm-wim-wenderss-innovative-3d-documentary-immerses-viewer-art-anselm-kiefer) • [13](https://film-forward.com/documentary/arts/anselm). Kiefer has been criticized in some quarters for his engagement with German fascism, including works invoking figures such as Friedrich Hölderlin, Richard Wagner, and Albert Speer, and has said it makes no sense to abandon certain themes and figures merely because the Nazis misappropriated them[14](https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-12-13/anselm-el-cineasta-wenders-y-el-pintor-kiefer-meditan-sobre-el-arte-y-la-herida-nazi.html).\n\n## Production\n\nWenders and Kiefer had agreed to make a film together roughly three decades earlier, when Kiefer exhibited at the Nationalgalerie in Berlin, but nothing came of it. In 2019 Kiefer invited Wenders to walk through the Barjac complex; over dinner they agreed, in cinematographer Franz Lustig's account, \"It's now or never,\" and shooting began in 2020[6](https://britishcinematographer.co.uk/franz-lustig-anselm/).\n\n**Filming and editing.** Wenders shot the film in seven sessions of a week or two each, from early 2020 to late 2022, editing between sessions for more than two years and discovering much of the film's structure, including its superimpositions and its method for working 2D archival material into a 3D world, during editing[5](https://filmmakermagazine.com/121417-interview-wim-wenders-anselm-cannes-2023-3d/). Lustig reported 37 shooting days and noted that the plan from the start was native 3D, an approach Wenders and Lustig had tested on the short *Two or Three Things I Know About Edward Hopper* (2020)[6](https://britishcinematographer.co.uk/franz-lustig-anselm/). Between his previous 3D features, *The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez* (2016) and *Anselm*, Wenders made two 3D shorts about visual artists, the Hopper film and *Présence* (2022) about Claudine Drai[5](https://filmmakermagazine.com/121417-interview-wim-wenders-anselm-cannes-2023-3d/) • [9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/anselm-wim-wenderss-innovative-3d-documentary-immerses-viewer-art-anselm-kiefer).\n\n**3D technique.** Lighter 3D camera equipment allowed small industrial cameras to be mounted on specially designed drones, producing aerial shots of the Barjac compound that were not technologically available when Wenders made *Pina* (2011), his previous 3D documentary[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/anselm-wim-wenderss-innovative-3d-documentary-immerses-viewer-art-anselm-kiefer). Reviewers emphasized that the 3D lends depth and texture rather than spectacle: the Wall Street Journal's critic wrote that it \"lends these images a sometimes uncanny, sometimes mesmerizing sense of depth\" rather than making things leap off the screen[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/anselm/critic-reviews/).\n\n## Reception and awards\n\nThe film premiered at Cannes in the Special Screenings section in May 2023[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/anselm/). Sideshow and Janus Films acquired US rights and released it theatrically in the United States on December 8, 2023[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/anselm) • [15](https://www.marchedufilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/230628-cannes-sales-so-far-wim-wenders-3d-doc-anselm-lands-at-sideshow-and-janus-films.pdf). It received a Metascore of 82, with all 24 collected reviews positive[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/anselm/critic-reviews/), and a 98% Tomatometer score from 54 reviews[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/anselm). The New York Times gave it a Critic's Pick, with Alissa Wilkinson calling it \"so splendid as a 3D film\"[3](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/anselm/).\n\nAt the 2023 International Documentary Association awards, Leonard Küßner won the IDA Award for Best Original Music Score for his sparse score, which mixes concrète textures with passages drawn from Paul Celan and [Ingeborg Bachmann](https://www.edgepedia.org/ingeborg-bachmann), and Franz Lustig was nominated for Best Cinematography[16](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27502250/awards/) • [17](https://europeanscreen.com/titles/anselm/). The film was also nominated for the Golden Eye at Cannes, the German Film Award in Gold for Best Documentary, and Cinema Eye Honors for direction, cinematography, and original music score, and won the CineLibri Award for Best Documentary, the Columbus Film Critics Association award for Best Documentary (tied with *Kokomo City*), and the Audience Award for Best Special Presentation Documentary Feature at the Santa Fe International Film Festival[16](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27502250/awards/).\n\n## References\n\n1. [ANSELM, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/anselm/)\n2. [Cannes press kit: In *Anselm*, Wim Wenders creates a portrait of Anselm Kiefer](https://cdn.festival-cannes.com/media/uploads/2023/05/159298.pdf)\n3. [Anselm, Film at Lincoln Center](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/anselm/)\n4. [Anselm, The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/films/34053-anselm)\n5. [\"The Lumières Dreamt of 3D\": Wim Wenders on Anselm at Cannes 2023, Filmmaker Magazine](https://filmmakermagazine.com/121417-interview-wim-wenders-anselm-cannes-2023-3d/)\n6. [Franz Lustig / Anselm, British Cinematographer](https://britishcinematographer.co.uk/franz-lustig-anselm/)\n7. [Anselm critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/anselm/critic-reviews/)\n8. [Anselm, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/anselm)\n9. [Anselm: Wim Wenders's innovative 3D documentary immerses the viewer in the art of Anselm Kiefer, Sight and Sound](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/anselm-wim-wenderss-innovative-3d-documentary-immerses-viewer-art-anselm-kiefer)\n10. [Film-maker Wim Wenders takes a 3D journey through Anselm Kiefer's studios and catalogue, The Art Newspaper](https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/12/05/wim-wenders-takes-a-3d-journey-through-anselm-kiefers-studios-and-catalogue)\n11. [Documentary 'Anselm' is a visually staggering study of the creative process, WBUR](https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/01/05/documentary-anselm-wim-wenders-review)\n12. [The Nameless and Forgotten Ones: On Wim Wenders's \"Anselm\", Los Angeles Review of Books](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-nameless-and-forgotten-ones-on-wim-wenderss-anselm)\n13. [Film-Forward – Anselm](https://film-forward.com/documentary/arts/anselm)\n14. ['Anselm': el cineasta Wenders y el pintor Kiefer meditan sobre el arte y la herida nazi, El País](https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-12-13/anselm-el-cineasta-wenders-y-el-pintor-kiefer-meditan-sobre-el-arte-y-la-herida-nazi.html)\n15. [Wim Wenders 3D doc 'Anselm' lands at Sideshow and Janus Films, Marché du Film](https://www.marchedufilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/230628-cannes-sales-so-far-wim-wenders-3d-doc-anselm-lands-at-sideshow-and-janus-films.pdf)\n16. [Anselm (2023) – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27502250/awards/)\n17. [Anselm, European Screen](https://europeanscreen.com/titles/anselm/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Documentary and biographical films › Biographical films of musicians, artists, and writers › Biographical films about visual and performing artists*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/anselm", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/anselm.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Anselm\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/anselm. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Anselm](https://www.edgepedia.org/anselm)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/anselm](https://www.edgepedia.org/anselm). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Anselm\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/anselm. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Anselm is Wim Wenders' 3D, 6K documentary portrait of German painter Anselm Kiefer, shot over two years at his French studios, premiered at Cannes, released by Sideshow and Janus Films." }