Pina

2011 Documentary

Pina Bausch was one of Europe's most celebrated choreographers, fusing the discipline of ballet with the freedom of modern dance and approaching her material in a bold, innovative and emotionally compelling manner. Bausch made the acquaintance of German filmmaker Wim Wenders, and he began making a documentary about her life and work. The focus of Wenders' film shifted dramatically in 2009, when Bausch was diagnosed with cancer and died only a few days later. Wenders considered abandoning the project, but after meeting with the members of her dance company, Tanztheater Wuppertal, Wenders chose instead to create a cinematic interpretation of Bausch's art, preserving several of her pieces and the work of her dancers for the ages. Pina is the result, a performance film that takes several of Bausch's dance pieces into the open and celebrates the beauty and physicality of dance; the film was shot in 3D to give a greater sense of the power and interplay of bodies in motion. Pina received its North American premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. more..

Director: Wim Wenders

Starring: Pina Bausch, Regina Advento, Malou Airaudo, Ruth Amarante, Rainer Behr

Reviews

  • The result, in Pina, is...wow.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    26 April 2013

  • In both theatrical environments and open-air ones, with Wenders paying close attention to the geometrics as well as the psychology of the movement, Pina is the best possible tribute to Bausch, and to adventurous image-making.

    Michael Phillips - The Chicago Tribune

    26 April 2013

  • Most documentaries put us inside people's heads. The dazzling, experimental Pina puts us inside people's feet.

    Lawrence Toppman - Charlotte Observer

    26 April 2013

  • What's remarkable about Pina is how democratic it is, how casual it is about opening up the world of modern dance to people who know, or perhaps care, little about it.

    Stephanie Zacharek - Movieline

    26 April 2013

  • The images captured by the film - dancers in theatrical sets, dancers in surreal exterior settings - are deeply scary for their loneliness and pain, and crazily thrilling for the intensity of their joy.

    Joe Morgenstern - The Wall Street Journal

    26 April 2013

Awards

  • Best Documentary, Features

    Academy Awards (2012)

     
  • Best Foreign Film, Not in the Spanish Language (Mejor Película Extranjera)

    Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards (2012)

     
  • Best Film Not in the English Language

    BAFTA Awards (2012)

     
  • Best Foreign Independent Film

    British Independent Film Awards (2011)

     
  • Best Documentary

    Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (2011)