In a Mumbai conversation during Wim Wenders’s “King of the Road” India retrospective, the German filmmaker called hope “an amazing driving force” and said that “hope gives soul to whatever you do.” The remark came near the end of a discussion about the future of cinema and creative independence, as reported by Scroll on February 8, 2025. The headline shortens two separate sentences, so the full wording matters, and it is set out below.
The exact wording
Scroll reported the passage as follows:
“Hope is an amazing driving force – it is something that an atheist and a religious person share.”
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WIM WENDERS - MOVIE [DVD] $12.69 Buy on Amazon “Hope is an entity that can give depth. It enables you to not be fake. What you can hope for, nobody can take away from you. Hope gives soul to whatever you do.”
The headline joins the opening clause of the first sentence with the closing line of the second. These are Scroll’s renderings of his remarks, not an independently checked transcript, so cite them as reported quotations.
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- Factory sealed DVD
Where the remark was made
The conversation took place in Mumbai as part of “King of the Road,” a retrospective that Wenders’s official announcement described as 25 days, 18 films and five cities. It was organised with the Film Heritage Foundation and the Wim Wenders Foundation, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut. The Goethe-Institut’s account says Wenders travelled across India presenting films at public events and meeting film students and the wider film community.
Those figures describe the programme, not the audience. The reporting used here includes no attendance, box-office or impact numbers for the tour.
Rank #2
- Wim Wenders - Paris, Texas (DVD)
Scroll’s report, by Nandini Ramnath, names Indian filmmakers taking part in the discussion, including Payal Kapadia, Sriram Raghavan, Lijo Jose Pellissery, Rima Das, Dev Benegal, Aamir Bashir and Nandita Das. It was a conversation among filmmakers about their work, not a keynote or a statement on India itself.
What he said about the future of cinema
The hope remark closed an exchange about digital systems, which Wenders described as increasingly governed by algorithms. His answer to that pressure was about independence: “Independence is something you have to want and stand up for.”
He also said of the structures shaping digital-age work and communication: “They respect information, not communication.” The report does not expand on that line, so it is best read as a general observation about the systems he was describing rather than a detailed argument.
Budgets and creative control
On money and contracts he said: “If you have knowledge of a film’s budget, you are in control of what you do.” The practical point is that a filmmaker who understands how a project is financed is better placed to decide what reaches the screen and on what terms.
Rank #4
- Artist: WENDERS,WIM
- Genre: Foreign Video German
- Product Type: DVD
- Rating: UN
- Release Date :31-May-2016
The road as a story
Road movies ran through the discussion as the form that suited his way of working. “The road is in itself a story,” Wenders said, explaining why it allowed him to tell loosely structured stories. A journey gives a film movement and encounters without requiring a tightly plotted spine.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The films in the retrospective
The table lists the titles named in Scroll’s report and the programme context. It is not a full filmography, and it does not indicate which films were screened in each city.
Best Value
| Film | Year | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Alice in the Cities | 1974 | Fiction feature |
| The Wrong Move | 1975 | Fiction feature |
| Kings of the Road | 1976 | Fiction feature |
| The American Friend | 1977 | Fiction feature |
| Paris, Texas | 1984 | Fiction feature |
| Wings of Desire | 1987 | Fiction feature |
| Buena Vista Social Club | 1999 | Documentary |
| Pina | 2011 | Documentary |
| Anselm | 2023 | Documentary |
| Perfect Days | 2023 | Fiction feature |
Seven of the ten titles are fiction features. The three documentaries, Buena Vista Social Club, Pina and Anselm, give the retrospective a fiction-and-documentary mix that is worth noting for readers interested in non-fiction filmmaking.
How to quote the passage accurately
- Attribute the words to Wim Wenders and name Scroll’s February 8, 2025 report as the source.
- Use the full sentence, “Hope gives soul to whatever you do,” rather than the headline’s condensed phrasing.
- Place the remark in the Mumbai discussion about cinema and independent work, not in a political or national context.
- Do not present it as a general claim about all filmmakers or about audiences.
Finding these films now
Screening schedules and home-media availability are not established by the reporting used here, and the 2025 tour dates do not indicate whether any of these titles will return to cinemas. Check current listings with repertory cinemas, film societies and distributors for each film, and confirm the specific edition before buying, since restorations and regional releases differ.
Quick Recap
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