The decision by German director Wim Wenders to withdraw a 1975 film over a nude scene depicting a 13-year-old has sparked widespread debate in Germany on whether artworks should be changed retroactively, with some industry figures hailing the moment as a "big opportunity."
The controversial scene in the 1975 film "Wrong Move," a modern adaption of a novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, features then 13-year-old actress Nastassja Kinski with a bare upper body.
Kinski, now 65, has said that she had asked Wenders for years to remove the 2-minute scene.
Wenders publicly apologized to Kinski in a statement released on Wednesday, announcing that he would withdraw the film from distribution until "a mutually agreed solution" was found.
Reacting to the move, the German Film Academy said on Thursday it would hold a meeting in September to address the issues raised by Wenders' decision.
Academy presidents Vicky Krieps and Florian Gallenberger noted the question inherent in Wenders' decision - whether films and other works of art should, must or are permitted to be altered after their release - had sparked “intense debate” not only in the public sphere but also within the institution.
It would take time to consider the legal, ethic, artistic and cultural dimensions in equal measure, meaning a decision on how the academy would deal with the film in the future should be expected following the meeting in September at the earliest, they said.
