Budapest Classic Film Marathon 2024: Lightning Over Water

Director: Wim Wenders, Nicholas Ray

Screenplay by Wim Wenders, Nicholas Ray
Director of photography: Edward Lachman, Martin Schäfer
Music by Ronee Blakeley
Cast: Nicholas Ray, Wim Wenders

The Sky Over Budapest – Focus on Wim Wenders

Introduction by: Rita Boronyák, Researcher-Archivist, NFI – Film Archive

Shocking and uplifting documentary about the final months of the dying Nicholas Ray. The legendary director of Rebel Without a Cause and Johnny Guitar is as much a creator of the film as the young Wenders, who found a friend, role model and inspiration in Ray. During discussions in a New York loft in the presence of a film crew, the elderly director looks back on his successes and his failures, and speaks about the Hollywood of yesteryear. One of the finest and most courageous films that has ever been made about how one faces the prospect of death, and what responsibility goes with being an artist in this situation.

Supporting film: Prometheus
Hungarian animation, bw, 1992, dir: Marcell Jankovics, no dialogue, 3’

More information on the Budapest Classic Film Marathon's program at Uránia >>