In these essays on the cinema, the author documents the obsessions leading to Paris, Texas and beyond. He discusses rock'n'roll in the movies, avant-garde film, questions of German identity and the passion for the American West and the Western. Wim Wenders is an internationally famous film director who directed Paris, Texas for which he won the Palme d'Or at Cannes; he also won the Cannes Best Director prize for Wings of Desire.