Wenders pulls 1975 film over Kinski nude scene

The withdrawal follows years of private appeals from Kinski, now 65, for the sequence to be removed, and the recent announcement by her lawyer, Christian Schertz, that he was initiating formal legal steps because Wenders had refused a personal conversation with her on the matter 'for years'. In a statement, the Wim Wenders Foundation said the film would be re-released only after a consensual solution had been reached, including in consultation with Kinski herself. 'Erst danach, auch wenn es länger dauern sollte, und nachdem wir eine einvernehmliche Lösung, auch in Absprache mit Nastassja Kinski, haben vorlegen können, werden wir den Film wieder freigeben,' the foundation said, adding that it plans a broad exchange with the Deutsche Filmakademie, the DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, other film heritage institutions and cross-generational groups before any re-release.

Apology and the German Film Prize speech

Wenders, who is one of Germany's most decorated directors and whose films include 'Paris, Texas', 'Der Himmel über Berlin' and 'Perfect Days', returned to the controversy publicly at the German Film Prize ceremony in Berlin on 29 May 2026, where he received an honorary lifetime achievement award. In his acceptance speech, he said that he would not make the scene the same way again and that he could not blame his younger self because he had made a film 'in its time', but he also called on the Deutsche Filmakademie to hold a debate on how to deal with problematic film heritage. He later followed up with a written apology, acknowledging that he was the only person still alive from those responsible for the production and that Kinski should have been better protected at the time.

In his written statement, Wenders said: 'Als einziger der damals für 'Falsche Bewegung' handelnden Verantwortlichen, der noch da ist, sehe ich, dass Nastassja Kinski damals hätte besser geschützt werden müssen. Dafür bitte ich Dich um Entschuldigung, Nastassja, ohne Wenn und Aber.' He added: 'Die vielen Reaktionen, Hinweise und Gespräche der vergangenen Tage haben wesentlich dazu beigetragen, meinen Blick auf die damaligen Ereignisse weiter zu schärfen. Dafür bin ich dankbar.' A foundation statement also quoted Wenders as saying the film was being pulled from 'all current forms of distribution and exhibition' and that 'Streaming-, TV- und Vertriebspartner werden angewiesen, den Film nicht mehr öffentlich zugängig zu machen.'

Kinski's account and her lawyer's response

Kinski confirmed the campaign on her verified Instagram account, writing that she had remained quiet and patient for a long time, expecting a fair dialogue with the director, but that he had not taken her seriously. In a separate interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, she said of the filming: 'Obwohl ich mit 13 noch nicht so viel wusste, habe ich schon gemerkt, dass das nicht in Ordnung war.' She also told the paper: 'That was my first film, he was my first director and he didn't protect me.'

Kinski's lawyer Schertz welcomed Wenders' apology but said it was 'long overdue' and had come only as a result of public pressure. 'Zudem muss man natürlich abwarten, was jetzt konkret das Gesprächsangebot beinhaltet,' Schertz added. Speaking before Wenders' announcement, Schertz had criticised the Berlin speech as an attempt by the director to evade personal responsibility by turning the case into a question of film heritage and artistic freedom.

Industry and public reactions

The apology and the withdrawal have not ended the debate. In a commentary in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Michael Hanfeld wrote: 'Hier geht es nicht um die Kunst- und Meinungsfreiheit und nicht ums Filmerbe (...). Hier geht es um die Tatsache, dass ein dreizehn Jahre altes Kind sexualisiert und nackt vor die Kamera gezogen wird. Das war 1974 falsch, und das wäre heute falsch.' Claudia Tieschky argued in the Süddeutsche Zeitung that Wenders was ducking his real responsibility by adopting a posture of thoughtful victimhood. Feminist Alice Schwarzer, 83, wrote in her magazine Emma: 'Wim: Höre auf zu reden – und handle! Schneide endlich diese verdammten zwei Minuten raus aus deinem Film!'

The film scholar Annette Brauerhoch, speaking on Deutschlandfunk Kultur, took a different view, welcoming the withdrawal but warning against simply cutting the scene. 'Das ist richtig raffiniert eingefädelt. Denn die Verantwortung, die eigentlich bei ihm liegt, hat er mit diesem Appell an das Publikum und die Akademie auf Tausende verteilt,' she said. Brauerhoch argued that removing the sequence would alter a historical document that shows how strongly film history was shaped by sexist structures, while also sending a signal that actresses deserve more say over how they are portrayed.

Several German actors and filmmakers publicly weighed in. Actress Rosalie Thomass called Wenders' speech 'zum Schämen' (shameful). Karoline Herfurth said she wished Wenders had publicly admitted to not sufficiently protecting a 13-year-old child rather than framing the issue as a question of censorship. The actor Clemens Schick criticised Wenders for elevating the debate to an abstract level of censorship and film heritage, while the actress Lavinia Wilson welcomed the fact that the director had addressed the topic publicly and called for a thorough debate. The Deutsche Filmakademie's presidential duo, Vicky Krieps and Florian Gallenberger, announced that the academy plans to hold a discussion on whether films and artworks should, must or may be retroactively altered, and that the question touches legal, ethical, artistic and cultural-studies dimensions.

A wider pattern in cinema history

The case has revived wider discussion about historical film productions in which minors appeared in nude or intimate scenes. In Louis Malle's 'Pretty Baby' (1978), the then-12-year-old Brooke Shields played an underage prostitute and appeared nude; Shields later said she felt uncomfortable and pressured on set. In 'The Blue Lagoon' (1980), Shields was 14 when she appeared nude alongside 18-year-old Christopher Atkins and later criticised the film in a documentary for exploiting her sexual awakening. In Franco Zeffirelli's 'Romeo and Juliet' (1968), Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting were 15 and 16 when they filmed a nude scene and in 2022 filed a $500 million lawsuit against Paramount Pictures, which a court definitively dismissed in October 2024. The French actress Maria Schneider, who was 19 when she filmed a notorious sex scene with Marlon Brando in Bernardo Bertolucci's 1972 film 'Last Tango in Paris', later said: 'Ich fühlte mich verletzt und, um ehrlich zu sein, ein wenig fühlte ich mich auch vergewaltigt, und zwar durch beide, Marlon und Bertolucci.'

It is not the first time Kinski has sought legal recourse over an early nude scene. Her lawyer Schertz confirmed that a settlement was reached with the broadcaster NDR regarding a nude scene in the 1977 Tatort episode 'Reifezeugnis', directed by Wolfgang Petersen, in which Kinski played a student having an affair with her teacher, though no details of the agreement were disclosed.

Wenders and Kinski: a long professional history

Wenders and Kinski have a long professional history beyond 'Falsche Bewegung'. The director later cast her in 'Paris, Texas' (1984), his Palme d'Or-winning road movie, and again in 'In weiter Ferne, so nah!' (1993), a sequel to 'Der Himmel über Berlin'. Their renewed collaboration, in particular 'Paris, Texas', made Kinski an international star and remains one of the most-cited examples of Wenders' career, even as the dispute over the 1975 film has now resurfaced.

The question of whether to alter older films has been addressed differently by other major directors. Steven Spielberg said in 2023 at a Time magazine event that digitally altering 'E.T.' for its 20th-anniversary re-release, replacing federal agents' guns with walkie-talkies, had been a mistake: 'Das war ein Fehler. Ich hätte das nie tun sollen. 'E.T.' ist ein Produkt seiner Zeit. Kein Film sollte aufgrund der Sichtweisen verändert werden, durch die wir heute freiwillig oder unfreiwillig auf die Welt blicken.' Disney has edited classics such as 'Aladdin' (1992) and 'Lilo & Stitch' (2002) for later releases and for Disney+, Ridley Scott released a new cut of 'Blade Runner' (1982) in 2007, George Lucas revised the original Star Wars trilogy for its 20th anniversary, and Stanley Kubrick removed a scene from 'The Shining' (1980) one week after its theatrical release because critics found it confusing. Today's production rules in Germany and elsewhere are markedly stricter, requiring guardians on set, explicit parental consent and, for sensitive scenes, the presence of specially trained intimacy coordinators.

The withdrawal of 'Falsche Bewegung' is, for now, temporary. The Wim Wenders Foundation has not given a date for any re-release and has framed the pause as a starting point for a wider conversation that it intends to conduct with the Deutsche Filmakademie, the Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum and other institutions. Whether the film returns in an edited form, in its original cut, or in some compromise version will depend on that process and, the foundation has made clear, on reaching a consensual solution with Kinski herself. The WDR.de article reporting the news was filed by Florian Schmidt and drew on statements from the Wim Wenders Foundation, the Deutsche Presse-Agentur and AFP; it was published on 3 June 2026, the same day the foundation issued its statement.

What happens next

For the German film industry, the case has become a test of how to reconcile respect for an auteur's body of work with the protection of performers, including those who were children at the time of filming. The 50-year gap between the production of 'Falsche Bewegung' and the current debate has also raised questions about the statute of limitations, the legal standing of performers who were minors when they appeared on screen, and the role of foundations and rights-holders in decisions about a film's public availability. Those questions are likely to outlast the immediate dispute over a two-minute scene in a 1975 road movie.

As of 5 June 2026, the film had been removed from streaming platforms, and the Wim Wenders Foundation said it was in contact with distribution and broadcast partners to ensure the film was no longer publicly accessible. Kinski's Instagram post did not reference Wenders' decision to temporarily withdraw the film, focusing instead on what she described as her long and patient attempt to be heard. Schertz has indicated that he is waiting to see what Wenders' offer of talks concretely entails before deciding on further legal steps. The Deutsche Filmakademie has not yet announced a date for the discussion Wenders requested, but Krieps and Gallenberger confirmed that it will take place and that it will address 'whether films and artworks should, must or may be retroactively altered'.