The Onassis Foundation at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival

FROM INSIDE OUT – The Architecture of Peter Zumthor
Written and directed by Wim Wenders
With the support of Onassis Culture

Wim Wenders, a four-time Oscar nominee, turns his camera to the work and philosophy of Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The result is an immersive documentary about our relationship with the spaces where we live and work, and the ways architecture influences how we feel within them.

Filmed over more than 14 years and using 3D technology, the film takes us inside Zumthor’s buildings, where we follow various visitors, residents, employees, and craftsmen. The camera traverses the spaces, transforming architecture into an almost physical experience. Moving from private residences to the iconic David Geffen Galleries at LACMA, the documentary reveals Zumthor’s devotion to craftsmanship and materiality, as well as the profound sense of place that characterizes his work. Wenders shows us that architecture is not merely about buildings, but about how they shape our emotions and memories, as well as our perception of the world.

A production by Road Movies (Karsten Brünig, Wim Wenders) and DCM (Marc Schmidheiny, Christoph Daniel, Dario Suter, Joel Brandeis), with the support of Onassis Culture.

World Premiere

September 6, 2:00pm — Sala Grande

“FROM INSIDE OUT aims to sharpen our sense of place, broaden our sensory perception of houses or ‘homes,’ so that we may gain a greater awareness of how architecture influences us and shapes both ourselves and our societies.”

—Wim Wenders

Onassis ONX returns to Venice Immersive for its landmark 10th anniversary edition (September 2–12, 2026) with two projects from across its ecosystem. Screening in Competition is Nothing to See Here, the latest work from Celine Daemen and Aron Fels, whose Venice-awarded Songs for a Passerby continues to tour worldwide. Daemen is an Onassis AiR/ONX Fellow within the framework of the European Media Art Platform Extended and together with Fels make up Studio Nergens. Venice Immersive, the XR section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, brings 68 projects from 26 countries to the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, including 30 works In Competition.

Nothing to See Here opens a window onto a small alternative reality. Set in liminal public spaces, it invites passers-by to peer through the peepholes of a box-shaped diorama.

The experience immerses you in an optical and sonic illusion. You see yourself from a bird’s-eye view, while fictional characters start to surround you. A series of strange events involving a plastic bag, a confused man, and a wolf gradually challenge your perception: What is happening behind your back? How much of reality can we truly comprehend? The work invites you to stand still for a moment in a space you would otherwise just move through, urging you to be present and truly look around.

The installation disrupts and fractures your perception. It places you in the middle of an alienating virtual world while simultaneously allowing you to observe your body from a distance. Through this experience, the audience is invited to explore how what we accept as truth is neither objective nor fixed, but constantly shaped by our bodily relationship with it.

Blending installation, spatial narrative, and experiential media, Nothing to See Here reflects ONX’s ongoing commitment to supporting artists working at the intersection of art and advanced technologies, while fostering ambitious new forms of storytelling and worldbuilding.

Onassis Culture at Venice Gap-Financing

Onassis ONX’s New York Innovation Director John Fitzgerald also heads to the Venice Immersive Market, where his new project with philosopher Simon Critchley, "The Mysteries of Eleusis", has been selected for the Venice Gap-Financing Market. The project will be pitched live at the Venice Immersive Island on September 4. One of 14 immersive projects selected for the market, The Mysteries of Eleusis is presented as part of the Venice Production Bridge’s Focus on Greece. Two films that have previously received the Onassis Film Award are participating in the Venice Gap-Financing Market: African Grey by Giorgos Gousis (2024, Agora, Thessaloniki International Film Festival) and Lionfish by Thanasis Troumboukis (2022, Drama International Short Film Festival). For 2026, Greece and Switzerland are the featured countries, supported by the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Centre and Swiss Films, respectively.