Festival Lumière 2023: Premieres, classics & Wim for the win - here's what not to miss

It’s that time of the year again when cinephiles gather to the birthplace of cinema and immerse themselves in the seventh art.

The 2023 Lumière Festival kicks off in Lyon this weekend, from Saturday 14 - Sunday 22 October... And this year’s vintage looks like it’s going to be one for the books.

Since its creation in 2009, the festival has become an unmissable event for film lovers. This year’s 15th edition is no different and celebrates the work of Wim Wenders, who is the recipient of the prestigious Lumière Prize.

The German filmmaker will see 18 of his films screened – including such classics as Paris, Texas, Wings of Desire, and Buena Vista Social Club - and joins the ranks of previous illustrious winners such as Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Wong Kar-wai, Jane Fonda, Jane Campion and last year’s prize-winner, Tim Burton.

Of particular note is the screening of Wenders’ new film, Perfect Days, which premiered in Cannes earlier this year and won the Best Actor Palme for veteran Japanese actor Koji Yakusho.

It is a quietly captivating film about an aging toilet cleaner in Tokyo, and both Wenders and Yakusho break your heart and put it back together again with a unique and delicate potency. It sees Wenders taking a lifetime of wisdom and distilling it into a meditative tale about the joys of routinely life. As if that wasn’t enough to get you excited, the whole beautiful and poignant character study is soundtracked to the sounds of Lou Reed, Patti Smith and Nina Simone.

As well as showing a retrospective of his impressive filmography, the Festival Lumière is also showing the avant-premiere of Room 999, a spiritual follow-up to Wenders’ 1982 documentary Room 666. Wenders asked 16 of his fellow directors to speak on the future