Editing Werner Herzog

{{Short description|German director, producer, screenwriter (born 1942)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Werner Herzog
| image              = Werner Herzog Venice Film Festival 2009.jpg
| caption            = Herzog in September 2009
| birth_name         = Werner Stipetić
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1942|9|5|df=yes}}
| birth_place        = [[Munich]], [[Nazi Germany|German Reich]]
| other_names        =
| occupation         = {{hlist|Filmmaker|actor|opera director|author}}
| years_active       = 1961–present
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Martje Grohmann|1967|1985|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Christine Maria Ebenberger|1987|1997|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Lena Herzog|Lena Pisetski]]|1999}}
}}
| relatives          = [[Lucki Stipetić]] (half-brother)
| children           = 3
| website            = {{URL|wernerherzog.com|WernerHerzog.com}}
| module             = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Werner Herzog BBC Radio4 Start the Week 26 March 2012 b01dtjcj.flac|title={{center|Werner Herzog's voice}}|type=speech|description={{center|[[:File:Werner Herzog BBC Radio4 Start the Week 26 March 2012 b01dtjcj.flac|Recorded March 2012]] from the BBC Radio 4 programme ''[[Start the Week]]''}}}}
| signature          = Werner Herzog Signature.png
}}

'''Werner Herzog''' ({{IPA|de|ˈvɛʁnɐ ˈhɛʁtsoːk|lang}}; né '''Stipetić'''; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of [[New German Cinema]], his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.empireonline.com/features/40-great-actor-director-partnerships/default.asp?c=35 |title=40 Great Actor & Director Partnerships: Klaus Kinski & Werner Herzog |access-date=19 June 2010 |work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] |archive-date=17 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017165512/http://www.empireonline.com/features/40-great-actor-director-partnerships/default.asp?c=35 |url-status=live }}</ref> people with unusual talents in obscure fields, or individuals in conflict with nature.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mahmud |first=Jamil |date=30 September 2009 |title=Werner Herzog and his film language |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=107680 |newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]] |access-date=19 June 2010 |archive-date=23 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023191553/http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=107680 |url-status=live }}</ref> His style involves avoiding [[storyboard]]s, emphasizing improvisation, and placing his cast and crew into real situations mirroring those in the film they are working on.

In 1961, when Herzog was 19, he started work on his first film [[Herakles (film)|''Herakles'']]. He has since produced, written, and directed over 60 films and documentaries such as ''[[Aguirre, the Wrath of God]]'' (1972); ''[[The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser]]'' (1974); ''[[Heart of Glass (film)|Heart of Glass]]'' (1976); ''[[Stroszek]]'' (1977); ''[[Nosferatu the Vampyre]]'' (1979); ''[[Fitzcarraldo]]'' (1982); ''[[Cobra Verde]]'' (1987); ''[[Lessons of Darkness]]'' (1992); ''[[Little Dieter Needs to Fly]]'' (1997); ''[[My Best Fiend]]'' (1999); [[Invincible (2001 drama film)|''Invincible'']] (2001); ''[[Grizzly Man]]'' (2005); ''[[Encounters at the End of the World]]'' (2007); ''[[Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans]]'' (2009); and ''[[Cave of Forgotten Dreams]]'' (2010). He has also published over 12 books of prose and directed many operas.

French filmmaker [[François Truffaut]] once called Herzog "the most important film director alive".<ref>{{cite book |last=Cronin |first=Paul |author2=Werner Herzog |title=Herzog on Herzog |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=2002 |location=London |pages=vii–viii |isbn=978-0-571-20708-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/herzogonherzog00herz|url-access=registration |quote=truffaut. }}</ref> American film critic [[Roger Ebert]] said that Herzog "has never created a single film that is compromised, shameful, made for pragmatic reasons, or uninteresting. Even his failures are spectacular".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ebert |first1=Roger |title=Awake in the Dark: The Best of Roger Ebert |date=2017 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |isbn=978-0-226-46105-2 |pages=xxiv-xxv |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_gmDgAAQBAJ&pg=PR24 |access-date=25 January 2020 |archive-date=16 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116063856/https://books.google.com/books?id=T_gmDgAAQBAJ&pg=PR24#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> He was named one of the world's [[Time 100|100 most influential people]] by [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] in 2009.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1893836_1894430,00.html |title=The 2009 TIME 100 |access-date=30 April 2009 |magazine=Time Magazine |date=30 April 2009 |last1=Ebert |first1=Roger |archive-date=16 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516142131/http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1893836_1894430,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
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==Life==
===Early life===
Herzog was born Werner Stipetić<ref name="Frankfurter Rundschau-2022">{{cite web |url=https://www.fr.de/kultur/tv-kino/ein-guter-soldat-des-kinos-werner-herzog-wird-80-zr-91767839.html |title="Ein guter Soldat des Kinos": Werner Herzog wird 80 |website=[[Frankfurter Rundschau]] |date=6 September 2022 |access-date=28 December 2022 |language=de |archive-date=28 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228211105/https://www.fr.de/kultur/tv-kino/ein-guter-soldat-des-kinos-werner-herzog-wird-80-zr-91767839.html |url-status=live }}</ref> in [[Munich]], [[Nazi Germany|German Reich]], on 5 September 1942, the son of Elisabeth Stipetić and Dietrich Herzog. His mother was Austrian with Croatian ancestry, while his father was German. When he was two weeks old, his mother took refuge in the remote Bavarian village of [[Sachrang]] in the [[Chiemgau Alps]], after the house next to theirs was destroyed during an [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] bombing raid in [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Werner Herzog on the Story Behind 'Rescue Dawn' |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11782309 |publisher=[[Fresh Air]] |date=27 October 1998 |access-date=21 June 2007 |archive-date=13 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013092552/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11782309 |url-status=live }}</ref> He, his older brother Till and younger half-brother [[Lucki Stipetić|Lucki]] grew up without running water, a flushing toilet, or a telephone. He recounted that his family had "no toys" and "no tools" and said that there was a sense of anarchy, as all the fathers of the village's children were absent.<ref name="YouTube">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUFKrI8YqbM  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/IUFKrI8YqbM| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Jonathan Demme interviews Werner Herzog (Museum of the Moving Image, 2008)|website=YouTube|access-date= Nov 29, 2008}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He never saw films, and did not even know cinema existed until a traveling projectionist came by the one-room schoolhouse in Sachrang.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cronin |first=Paul |title=Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed: Conversations with Paul Cronin |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-571-25977-9 }}</ref>

When Herzog was 12, he and his family moved back to Munich. His father had abandoned the family early in his youth, but he later adopted his father's surname (which is [[Herzog|German for "duke"]]) as he thought it sounded more impressive for a filmmaker.<ref>{{cite web |last=Laster |first=Paul |url=https://observer.com/2011/05/werner-herzog-comes-out-of-the-cave/ |title=Werner Herzog Comes Out of the Cave |work=New York Observer |date=25 July 2011 |access-date=15 August 2013 |archive-date=13 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813220333/http://observer.com/2011/05/werner-herzog-comes-out-of-the-cave/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Herzog made his first phone call when he was seventeen; two years later, he started work on his first film, ''[[Herakles (film)|Herakles]]''.<ref name="YouTube" /> Herzog says that when he eventually met his father again, "fairly late in life", his mother had to translate Werner's German into the [[Bavarian language]] which his father spoke so the two could communicate.<ref name="YouTube-2">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4b7vBWwbuo |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/n4b7vBWwbuo| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Legendary Werner Herzog talks books with author Robert Pogue Harrison|website=YouTube|date=16 February 2016 |access-date=Nov 29, 2020
}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Herzog, aged thirteen, was told by a bullying music teacher to sing in front of his class at school in an effort, Herzog said, "to break my back."  When he adamantly refused he was almost expelled. The incident scarred him for life.<ref name="YouTube" /> For several years Herzog listened to no music, sang no songs, and studied no instruments, but when he turned eighteen he immersed himself in music with particular intensity.<ref name="YouTube" />

At an early age, he experienced a dramatic phase in which he converted to [[Catholic Church in Germany|Catholicism]], which lasted only a few years. He started to embark on long journeys, some on foot. Around this time, he knew he would be a filmmaker and learned the basics from a few pages in an encyclopedia which provided him with "everything I needed to get myself started" as a filmmaker—that, and the [[Movie camera|35 mm camera]] he stole from the [[University of Television and Film Munich|Munich Film School]].<ref>Bissell, Tom. "The Secret Mainstream: Contemplating the mirages of Werner Herzog", ''[[Harper's Magazine|Harper's]]'', December 2006</ref> In the commentary for ''[[Aguirre, the Wrath of God]]'', he says, "I don't consider it theft. It was just a necessity. I had some sort of natural right for a camera, a tool to work with".

During Herzog's last years of high school, no production company was willing to take on his projects, so he worked night shifts as a welder in a steel factory to earn the funds for his first featurettes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/werner-herzog|title=Werner Herzog &#124; Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com|access-date=29 November 2020|archive-date=20 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020065730/https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/werner-herzog|url-status=live}}</ref> When he finished school, but before he formally graduated, he followed his girlfriend to [[Manchester]], England, where he spent several months and learned to speak English. He found the language classes pointless and "fled".<ref>{{cite book |last=Cronin |first=Paul |author2=Werner Herzog |title=Herzog on Herzog |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=2002 |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/herzogonherzog00herz/page/1 1]–2 |isbn= 978-0-571-20708-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/herzogonherzog00herz|url-access=registration |quote=truffaut. }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xUTsAwAAQBAJ&q=werner+herzog+bought+house+manchester&pg=PT32 |title=Werner Herzog – A Guide for the Perplexed: Conversations with Paul Cronin |isbn=978-0-571-25978-6 |access-date=Nov 30, 2020 |last1=Cronin |first1=Paul |date=5 August 2014 |publisher=Faber & Faber |archive-date=16 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116063857/https://books.google.com/books?id=xUTsAwAAQBAJ&q=werner+herzog+bought+house+manchester&pg=PT32#v=snippet&q=werner%20herzog%20bought%20house%20manchester&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> After graduating from high school, he was intrigued by the post-independence [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Congo]], but in attempting to travel there, reached only the [[South Sudan|south of Sudan]] before falling seriously ill.<ref>Herzog, W. (2008). What was worst. ''The Virginia Quarterly Review'', ''84''(1), 197–198. https://www.vqronline.org/vqr-symposium/what-was-worst {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210730205626/https://www.vqronline.org/vqr-symposium/what-was-worst |date=30 July 2021 }}</ref> While already making films, he had a brief stint at the [[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich|University of Munich]], where he studied history and literature.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wishmachinery.com/2017/11/does-werner-herzog-have-college-degree.html |title=Does Werner Herzog Have a College Degree? Answer |website=www.wishmachinery.com |access-date=8 November 2017 |archive-date=8 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108205506/http://www.wishmachinery.com/2017/11/does-werner-herzog-have-college-degree.html |url-status=usurped }}</ref> Herzog subsequently moved to [[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania, in order to study at [[Duquesne University]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-mn-werner-herzog-on-sunset-blvd-20170411-story.html|title=Werner Herzog wouldn't live anyplace other than Los Angeles, 'the city with the most substance'|first=Joe|last=Donnelly|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=April 11, 2017|access-date=August 17, 2020|archive-date=20 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820045105/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-mn-werner-herzog-on-sunset-blvd-20170411-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Early and mid-career: 1962–2005===
Herzog, along with [[Rainer Werner Fassbinder]], [[Wim Wenders]] and [[Volker Schlöndorff]], led the beginning of the [[New German Cinema]], which included documentarians who filmed on low budgets and were influenced by the [[French New Wave]]. He developed a habit of casting professional actors alongside people from the locality in which he was shooting. His films, "usually set in distinct and unfamiliar landscapes, are imbued with mysticism."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wernerherzog.com/long-biography.html|title=Werner Herzog Film – Long Biography|website=www.wernerherzog.com|access-date=29 November 2020|archive-date=27 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427195138/https://www.wernerherzog.com/long-biography.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Herzog says his youthful experience with Catholicism is evident in "something of a religious echo in my work".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xUTsAwAAQBAJ&q=werner+herzog+bought+house+manchester&pg=PT32|title=Werner Herzog – A Guide for the Perplexed: Conversations with Paul Cronin|isbn=978-0-571-25978-6|access-date=Nov 29, 2020|last1=Cronin|first1=Paul|date=5 August 2014|publisher=Faber & Faber|archive-date=16 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116063857/https://books.google.com/books?id=xUTsAwAAQBAJ&q=werner+herzog+bought+house+manchester&pg=PT32#v=snippet&q=werner%20herzog%20bought%20house%20manchester&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1971, while Herzog was [[location scouting]] for ''[[Aguirre, the Wrath of God]]'' in [[Peru]], he narrowly avoided taking [[LANSA Flight 508]]. Herzog's reservation was cancelled due to a last-minute change in itinerary. The plane was later struck by [[lightning]] and disintegrated, but one survivor, [[Juliane Koepcke]], lived after a free fall. Long haunted by the event, nearly 30 years later he made a documentary film, ''[[Wings of Hope (documentary)|Wings of Hope]]'' (1998), which explored the story of the sole survivor.

Herzog and his films have been nominated for and won many awards. His first major award was the [[Jury Grand Prix|Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the Jury]] for his first feature film ''[[Signs of Life (1968 film)|Signs of Life]]''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1968/03_preistr_ger_1968/03_Preistraeger_1968.html |title=Berlinale 1968: Prize Winners |access-date=3 March 2010 |work=berlinale.de |archive-date=7 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107082140/http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1968/03_preistr_ger_1968/03_Preistraeger_1968.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> (''[[Nosferatu the Vampyre]]'' was also nominated for Golden Bear in 1979). Herzog won the Best Director award for ''[[Fitzcarraldo]]'' at the [[1982 Cannes Film Festival]]. In 1975, his movie ''[[The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser]]'' won the ''[[Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)|Grand Prix Spécial du Jury]]'' (also known as the "Silver Palm") and the [[Prize of the Ecumenical Jury]] at the Cannes Festival. Other films directed by Herzog nominated for Golden Palm are: ''[[Woyzeck (1979 film)|Woyzeck]]'' (1979) and ''[[Where the Green Ants Dream]]'' (1984). His films have been nominated at many other festivals around the world: [[César Awards]] (''[[Aguirre, the Wrath of God]]''), [[Emmy Awards]] (''[[Little Dieter Needs to Fly]]''), [[European Film Awards]] (''[[My Best Fiend]]'') and [[Venice Film Festival]] (''[[Scream of Stone]]'' and ''[[The Wild Blue Yonder (2005 film)|The Wild Blue Yonder]]''). In 1987, Herzog and his half-brother Lucki Stipetić won the [[Bayerischer Filmpreis|Bavarian Film Award]] for Best Producing for the film ''[[Cobra Verde]]''.<ref>[http://www.bayern.de/Anlage19170/PreistraegerdesBayerischenFilmpreises-Pierrot.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325165025/http://www.bayern.de/Anlage19170/PreistraegerdesBayerischenFilmpreises-Pierrot.pdf|date=25 March 2009}}</ref> In 2002, he won the Dragon of Dragons Honorary Award at the [[Kraków Film Festival]].

Herzog once promised to eat his shoe if [[Errol Morris]] completed a film project on pet cemeteries that he had been working on, in order to challenge and motivate Morris as he perceived Morris to be incapable of following up on the projects he conceived. In 1978, when the film ''[[Gates of Heaven]]'' premiered, Herzog cooked and publicly ate his shoe; the event was later incorporated into a short documentary, ''[[Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe]]'' (1980), by [[Les Blank]]. Herzog suggested that he hoped the act would serve to encourage anyone having difficulty bringing a project to fruition.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Abramovitch|first=Seth|date=2015-02-05|title=1979: When Werner Herzog Ate His Shoe|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/1979-werner-herzog-ate-his-770500/|access-date=2021-10-27|website=The Hollywood Reporter|language=en-US|archive-date=24 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221224190554/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/1979-werner-herzog-ate-his-770500/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the winter of 1974, German-French writer [[Lotte H. Eisner]] (a friend and mentor of Herzog since the late 1950s) fell gravely ill; Herzog walked from [[Munich]] to [[Paris]], believing that she would not die if he did so.<ref name =Herzog>{{cite web| url = http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/werner-herzog-s-german-comeback-cinema-legend-heads-berlinale-jury-a-677080-3.html| title = Walking Himself into Intoxication| author = Beier, Lars-Olav| date = February 11, 2010| accessdate = April 5, 2017| publisher = Spiegel, Deutschland| archive-date = 13 February 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180213002743/http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/werner-herzog-s-german-comeback-cinema-legend-heads-berlinale-jury-a-677080-3.html| url-status = live}}</ref> During these travels, which took him three weeks, he kept a diary that would eventually be published as ''[[Of Walking in Ice]]''. Eight years later, the 87-year-old Eisner allegedly complained to Herzog of her infirmities and told him, "I am saturated with life. There is still this spell upon me that I must not die{{emdash}}can you lift it?" He says that he agreed to do so, and she died eight days later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.openculture.com/2016/08/werner-herzog-tells-a-book-club-why-the-peregrine-is-one-of-his-favorite-books.html|title=Werner Herzog Tells a Book Club Why the Peregrine is One of His Favorite Books, a 20th-Century Masterpiece &#124; Open Culture|access-date=20 December 2023|archive-date=25 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231125052844/https://www.openculture.com/2016/08/werner-herzog-tells-a-book-club-why-the-peregrine-is-one-of-his-favorite-books.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Herzog4.jpg|thumb|upright|Herzog at the [[1991 Venice International Film Festival]]]]
Werner Herzog moved to Los Angeles with his wife in the late 1990s. He said of the city, "Wherever you look is an immense depth, a tumult that resonates with me. New York is more concerned with finance than anything else. It doesn't create culture, only consumes it; most of what you find in New York comes from elsewhere. Things actually get done in Los Angeles. Look beyond the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and a wild excitement of intense dreams opens up; it has more horizons than any other place. There is a great deal of industry in the city and a real working class; I also appreciate the vibrant presence of the Mexicans."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://laist.com/news/entertainment/werner-herzogs-take-on-los-angeles|title=Werner Herzog's Thoughts On Los Angeles Are Pretty Great|date=4 May 2015|website=LAist|access-date=16 February 2022|archive-date=16 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216152935/https://laist.com/news/entertainment/werner-herzogs-take-on-los-angeles|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Later directorial career: 2006 onwards ===

Herzog was honored at the 49th [[San Francisco International Film Festival]], receiving the 2006 Film Society Directing Award.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fest06.sffs.org/awards/werner_herzog.php |title=Film Society Directing Award |access-date=8 April 2009 |work=sffs.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527080736/http://fest06.sffs.org/awards/werner_herzog.php |archive-date = 27 May 2008}}</ref> Four of his films have been shown at the San Francisco International Film Festival: ''[[Herdsmen of the Sun|Wodaabe – Herdsmen of the Sun]]'' in 1990, ''[[Bells from the Deep]]'' in 1993, ''[[Lessons of Darkness]]'' in 1993, and ''[[The Wild Blue Yonder (2005 film)|The Wild Blue Yonder]]'' in 2006.

''[[Grizzly Man]]'', a documentary directed by Herzog, was awarded the [[Alfred P. Sloan Prize]] at the 2005 [[Sundance Film Festival]]. He seemed to attract danger even in more suburban settings. In 2006, Herzog was shot in the abdomen while on Skyline Drive in Los Angeles. He had been giving an interview on ''Grizzly Man'' to [[Mark Kermode]] of the [[BBC]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p031lbrw|title=BBC Arts – BBC Arts, Werner Herzog is shot by an air rifle in 2006|website=BBC|date=4 September 2015|access-date=6 November 2019|archive-date=6 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106034016/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p031lbrw|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-werner-herzog-survived-being-28280 |title=How Werner Herzog survived being shot |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=23 September 2010 |language=en |access-date=22 November 2019 |archive-date=6 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106034017/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-werner-herzog-survived-being-28280 |url-status=live }}</ref> Herzog continued the interview without seeking medical treatment, stating "it's not significant". The shooter later turned out to be a crazed fan with an [[air rifle]]. Regarding the incident, Herzog later said, "I seem to attract the clinically insane." In a 2021 episode of ''Diminishing Returns'' podcast covering Herzog's film ''[[Stroszek]]'', presenter [[Dallas Campbell]] called this incident a hoax, claiming to be friends with the director of the piece and that the incident was "set up".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dimreturns.com/episodes/2021/1/18/242-stroszek|title=242 – Stroszek (with Dallas Campbell)|website=Diminishing Returns|date=18 January 2021|access-date=18 March 2021|archive-date=18 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118142154/https://www.dimreturns.com/episodes/2021/1/18/242-stroszek|url-status=live}}</ref> <!--Delete incident with Phoenix; trivial part of the New Yorker article and the source did not say what the content here did.  -->

[[File:Werner Herzog Bruxelles 02 cropped.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Herzog at a press conference in Brussels, 2007]]
Herzog's April 2007 appearance at the [[Ebertfest]] in Champaign, Illinois, earned him the Golden Thumb Award, and an engraved [[glockenspiel]] given by a young film maker inspired by his films.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} ''[[Encounters at the End of the World]]'', set in Antarctica, won the award for Best Documentary at the 2008 [[Edinburgh International Film Festival]] and was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]], Herzog's first Oscar nomination.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/jun/30/edinburghfilmfestival.news | work=[[The Guardian]] | title=Shane Meadows' Somers Town takes top Edinburgh award | first=Ben | last=Child | date=30 June 2008 | access-date=24 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2009|title=The 81st Academy Awards {{!}} 2009|website=www.oscars.org|date=7 October 2014 |language=en|access-date=2024-01-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jan/26/werner-herzog-interview | work=[[The Guardian]] | title=Werner Herzog: Onstage at BFI Southbank, the iconoclastic director shares his feelings on being nominated for an Oscar for his new documentary Encounters at the End of the World, why he loves living in Los Angeles and why being in Antarctica was a profoundly odd experience | date=26 January 2009 | access-date=24 January 2024}}</ref> In 2009, Herzog became the only filmmaker in recent history to enter two films in competition in the same year at the [[Venice Film Festival]]. Herzog's ''[[Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans]]'' was entered into the festival's official competition schedule, and his ''[[My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?]]'' entered the competition as a "surprise film".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSTRE5841N320090905 |title=Filmmaker Herzog is up against himself in Venice &#124; Film |work=Reuters |date=5 September 2009 |access-date=25 October 2009 |archive-date=8 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908182132/http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSTRE5841N320090905? |url-status=live }}</ref> Herzog also provided the narration for the short film [[Plastic Bag (film)|''Plastic Bag'']], directed by [[Ramin Bahrani]], which was the opening night film in the Corto Cortissimo section of the festival.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/festival/lineup/official_selection/corto_cortissimo/bag.html |title=66th Venice Film Festival Corto Cortissimo |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006065315/http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/festival/lineup/official_selection/corto_cortissimo/bag.html |archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>

Herzog completed a documentary called ''[[Cave of Forgotten Dreams]]'' in 2010, which shows his journey into the [[Chauvet Cave]] in France. Although generally skeptical of [[3D film]] as a format,<ref>{{cite web|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141018140557/http://www.planet-mag.com/2010/features/alex-shephard/werner-herzog-interview/5/|archive-date=18 October 2014|url=http://www.planet-mag.com/2010/features/alex-shephard/werner-herzog-interview/ |title=Werner Herzog Interview &#124; PLANET° |publisher=Planet-mag.com |date=7 September 2010 |access-date=15 August 2013}}</ref> Herzog premiered the film at the [[2010 Toronto International Film Festival]] in 3-D and had its European premiere at the 2011 [[Berlin International Film Festival|Berlinale]]. Also in 2010, Herzog co-directed with Dimitry Vasuykov ''[[Happy People: A Year in the Taiga]]'', which portrays the life of fur [[Siberian fur trade|trapper]]s and their families in the [[Siberia]]n part of the [[Taiga]]; it premiered at the 2010 [[Telluride Film Festival]].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Debruge|first1=Peter|date=2010-09-28|title=Happy People: A Year in the Taiga|url=https://variety.com/2010/film/reviews/happy-people-a-year-in-the-taiga-1117943738/|access-date=2020-10-20|website=Variety|language=en|archive-date=22 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022073025/https://variety.com/2010/film/reviews/happy-people-a-year-in-the-taiga-1117943738/|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:WERNER HERZOG star.jpg|thumb|''{{interlanguage link|Boulevard der Stars|de}}'' in [[Berlin]]|alt=Herzog's star on the ''{{interlanguage link|Boulevard der Stars|de}}'' in [[Berlin]]]]
Herzog has narrated many of his documentary films.

In 2011, Herzog competed with [[Ridley Scott]] to make a film based on the life of British explorer [[Gertrude Bell]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Dang|first=Simon|title=Watch Out, Ridley: Werner Herzog's Gertrude Bell Film Starring Naomi Watts Hoping To Shoot In The Fall|url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-out-ridley-werner-herzogs-gertrude-bell-film-starring-naomi-watt-hoping-to-shoot-in-the-fall-20120520|work=IndieWire|access-date=25 November 2012|archive-date=17 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017170246/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-out-ridley-werner-herzogs-gertrude-bell-film-starring-naomi-watt-hoping-to-shoot-in-the-fall-20120520|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2012, it was confirmed that Herzog would start production on his long-in-development project in March 2013 in Morocco with [[Naomi Watts]] to play Gertrude Bell along with [[Robert Pattinson]] to play [[T. E. Lawrence]] and [[Jude Law]] to play [[Henry Cadogan]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Chitwood|first=Adam|title=Jude Law Joins Robert Pattinson and Naomi Watts in Werner Herzog's QUEEN OF THE DESERT|url=http://collider.com/jude-law-queen-of-the-desert/208459/|website=Collider|access-date=25 November 2012|archive-date=5 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105185811/http://collider.com/jude-law-queen-of-the-desert/208459|url-status=live}}</ref> The film was completed in 2014 with a different cast: [[Nicole Kidman]] as Gertrude Bell, [[James Franco]] as Henry Cadogan, [[Damian Lewis]] as Charles Doughty-Wylie, and [[Robert Pattinson]] as a 22-year-old archaeologist [[T. E. Lawrence]].'' [[Queen of the Desert (film)|Queen of the Desert]]'' had its world premiere at the 2015 [[Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Matthew |date=February 6, 2015 |title=Queen of the Desert: Berlin Film Festival review |work=[[BBC]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150206-the-female-lawrence-of-arabia |access-date=January 30, 2023 |archive-date=30 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130230439/https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150206-the-female-lawrence-of-arabia |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[file:Werner Herzog Berlin 2015.jpg|thumb|upright|Herzog in 2015]]

In 2015, Herzog shot a feature film, ''[[Salt and Fire]]'', in [[Bolivia]], starring [[Veronica Ferres]], [[Michael Shannon]] and [[Gael García Bernal]]. It is described as a "highly explosive drama inspired by a short story by [[Tom Bissell]]".<ref>{{cite web|last=Raup|first=Jordan|title=Gael García Bernal Join Werner Herzog's 'Salt and Fire'|url=http://thefilmstage.com/news/michael-shannon-and-gael-garcia-bernal-join-werner-herzogs-salt-and-fire/|publisher=The Film Stage|access-date=13 August 2013|archive-date=12 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312092231/http://thefilmstage.com/news/michael-shannon-and-gael-garcia-bernal-join-werner-herzogs-salt-and-fire/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Acting and other endeavours ===

Dissatisfied with the way film schools are run, in 2009 Herzog founded his own Rogue Film School.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.roguefilmschool.com/about.asp |title=Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School |website=www.roguefilmschool.com |access-date=26 June 2016 |archive-date=8 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708212432/http://www.roguefilmschool.com/about.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> For the students, Herzog has said, "I prefer people who have worked as bouncers in a sex club, or have been wardens in the lunatic asylum. You must live life in its very elementary forms. The Costa Ricans have a very nice word for it: ''pura vida''. It doesn't mean just purity of life, but the raw, stark-naked quality of life. And that's what makes young people more into a filmmaker than academia."<ref>{{cite web |last=Beggs |first=Scott |url=http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/6-filmmaking-tips-from-werner-herzog.php |title=6 FILMMAKING TIPS FROM WERNER HERZOG |publisher=[[Film School Rejects]] |date=12 September 2012 |access-date=13 August 2015 |archive-date=19 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919042036/http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/6-filmmaking-tips-from-werner-herzog.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> Notable alumni include [[Keirda Bahruth]], Nir Sa'ar, [[Bob Baldori]], [[Sean Gill]], [[Frederick Kroetsch]], and [[George Hickenlooper]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Beggs |first=Scott |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/into-the-abyss-with-werner/ |title=Into the Abyss With Werner |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=10 February 2010 |access-date=16 February 2023 |archive-date=16 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216172723/https://archive.nytimes.com/carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/into-the-abyss-with-werner/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Herzog was selected to be the president of the jury at the [[60th Berlin International Film Festival]] in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/presse/pressemitteilungen/alle/Alle-Detail_5364.html |title=Werner Herzog to be President of the Jury of the 60th Berlinale |access-date=22 December 2009 |work=berlinale.de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125161234/http://www.berlinale.de/en/presse/pressemitteilungen/alle/Alle-Detail_5364.html |archive-date=25 November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091119-23385.html |title=Werner Herzog to head Berlin film festival jury |access-date=22 December 2009 |work=thelocal.de |archive-date=20 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091120175701/http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091119-23385.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8370440.stm |title=Werner Herzog is to head the Berlin Film Festival jury |access-date=22 December 2009 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=20 November 2009 |archive-date=23 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123114011/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8370440.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2010 he expanded his reach by performing a voiceover for an animated television program for the first time, appearing in ''[[The Boondocks (TV series)|The Boondocks]]'' in its third-season premiere episode "[[It's a Black President, Huey Freeman]]". In the episode, he played a fictional cameo of himself filming a documentary about the series' cast of characters and their actions during the 2008 election of [[Barack Obama]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Continuing with voice work, Herzog played Walter Hotenhoffer (formerly known as [[List of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory characters#Augustus Gloop|Augustus Gloop]]) in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[The Scorpion's Tale]]", which aired in March 2011. The next year, he also appeared in the [[American Dad! (season 8)|8th-season]] episode of ''[[American Dad!]]'', called "[[Ricky Spanish]]". He lent his voice to a recurring character during the [[Metalocalypse (season 4)|4th season]] of the [[Adult Swim]] animated series ''[[Metalocalypse]]''. In 2015 he voiced a guest character Old Reptile, an affiliate of Shrimply Pibbles for Adult Swim's ''[[Rick and Morty]]''.<ref>{{Citation |title=Rick and Morty (TV Series 2013– ) – IMDb |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2861424/characters/nm0001348 |access-date=2023-01-07 |archive-date=7 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107164310/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2861424/characters/nm0001348 |url-status=live }}</ref>

He appeared in person opposite [[Tom Cruise]] as the villain Zec Chelovek in the 2012 action film ''[[Jack Reacher (film)|Jack Reacher]]''. Herzog gained attention in 2013 when he released a 35-minute [[Public Service Announcement]]-style documentary, ''From One Second to the Next'', demonstrating the danger of texting while driving and financed by [[AT&T]], [[Sprint Corporation|Sprint]], [[Verizon]], and [[T-Mobile US|T-Mobile]] as part of their ''It Can Wait'' driver safety campaign. The film, which documents four stories in which texting and driving led to tragedy or death, initially received more than 1.7 million YouTube views and was subsequently distributed to over 40,000 high schools.<ref>{{cite web |last=Leopold |first=Todd |title=Film legend Herzog takes on texting and driving |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/16/tech/mobile/werner-herzog-texting-driving/ |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=16 August 2013 |access-date=13 August 2015 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924163105/http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/16/tech/mobile/werner-herzog-texting-driving/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In July 2013, Herzog contributed to an art installation entitled "Hearsay of the Soul", for the Whitney Biennial, which was later acquired as a permanent exhibit by the [[J. Paul Getty Museum]] in Los Angeles. In late 2013 he voiced some of the English-language dub of [[Hayao Miyazaki]]'s ''[[The Wind Rises]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Lattanzio|first1=Ryan|date=2013-12-18|title=English-Language Voice Cast for 'The Wind Rises' Includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt and Werner Herzog|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2013/12/english-language-voice-cast-for-the-wind-rises-includes-joseph-gordon-levitt-emily-blunt-and-werner-herzog-194557/|access-date=2020-10-20|website=IndieWire|language=en|archive-date=22 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122123821/https://www.indiewire.com/2013/12/english-language-voice-cast-for-the-wind-rises-includes-joseph-gordon-levitt-emily-blunt-and-werner-herzog-194557/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2019, Herzog joined the cast of the [[Disney+]] live action ''[[Star Wars]]'' television series ''[[The Mandalorian]]'', portraying  "[[The Client (Star Wars)|The Client]]", a character with nebulous connections to the [[Galactic Empire (Star Wars)|Empire]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Smail |first=Gretchen |title=Werner Herzog's 'The Mandalorian' Character Is The Next Great 'Star Wars' Villain |work=[[Bustle (website)|Bustle]] |date=12 November 2019 |url=https://www.bustle.com/p/werner-herzogs-the-mandalorian-character-is-the-next-great-star-wars-villain-19344045 |access-date=27 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127044709/https://www.bustle.com/p/werner-herzogs-the-mandalorian-character-is-the-next-great-star-wars-villain-19344045 |archive-date=27 January 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> Herzog accepted the role after being impressed with the screenplay,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Werner Herzog praises new 'Star Wars' series 'Mandalorian' – YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wreLS1luB8I&feature=youtu.be |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/wreLS1luB8I| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2020-07-17|website=www.youtube.com| date=4 May 2019 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> although he said he had never seen any of the ''Star Wars'' films.<ref>{{cite news |last=Roxborough |first=Scott |title=Werner Herzog Talks Cannes Entry, 'The Mandalorian' Role |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=18 May 2019 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/werner-herzog-talks-role-star-wars-series-mandalorian-1212001 |access-date=27 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215063959/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/werner-herzog-talks-role-star-wars-series-mandalorian-1212001 |archive-date=15 December 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In June 2022, Herzog published his debut novel, titled ''[[The Twilight World]]'', telling the story of [[Hiroo Onoda]], a Japanese soldier who had refused to surrender for decades while hiding in the jungle of a Philippine island. Herzog had met Onoda in Tokyo more than two decades before, and the two had discussed the jungle. Herzog had used jungles as settings of many of his important works.
Onoda, a WWII Japanese soldier who was deployed in 1944 to [[Lubang Island|Lubang]], a small Philippine Island, where he conducted warfare for twenty-nine years. After receiving orders to "hold his position", his commander promised that someone would return for him, but as the years went by, it was clear that he was forgotten.

Herzog said his novel was a fictional account of Hiroo Onoda's ordeal of being stranded in a jungle fighting a war that had officially ended. He has said, "Most details are factually correct; some are not".<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2022-06-16 |title=Werner Herzog's Wondrous Novel of Nothingness in the Jungle |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/werner-herzogs-wondrous-novel-of-nothingness-in-the-jungle |access-date=2022-06-20 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |archive-date=20 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620125028/https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/werner-herzogs-wondrous-novel-of-nothingness-in-the-jungle |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Review {{!}} Werner Herzog's first novel revisits fanaticism and human folly |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/06/16/werner-herzog-book-twilight-world/ |access-date=2022-06-20 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=27 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627041118/https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/06/16/werner-herzog-book-twilight-world/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Schillinger |first=Liesl |date=2022-06-10 |title=Two Men of the Jungle Meet in Herzog's First Novel |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/10/books/review/twilight-world-werner-herzog-hiroo-onoda.html |access-date=2022-06-20 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=20 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620200858/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/10/books/review/twilight-world-werner-herzog-hiroo-onoda.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Film theory==
===Style===
Herzog's films have received considerable critical acclaim and achieved popularity on the [[art house]] circuit. They have also been the subject of controversy in regard to their themes and messages, especially the circumstances surrounding their creation. A notable example is ''[[Fitzcarraldo]]'', in which the obsessiveness of the central character was reflected by the director during the making of the film. ''[[Burden of Dreams]]'', a documentary filmed during the making of ''Fitzcarraldo'', explored Herzog's efforts to make the film in harsh conditions. Herzog's diaries during the making of ''Fitzcarraldo'' were published as ''[[Conquest of the Useless|Conquest of the Useless: Reflections from the Making of Fitzcarraldo]].'' [[Mark Harris (journalist)|Mark Harris]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote in his review: "The movie and its making are both fables of daft aspiration, investigations of the blurry border between having a dream and losing one's mind."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/books/review/Harris-t.html|title=Book Review {{!}} 'Conquest of the Useless: Reflections From the Making of 'Fitzcarraldo',' by Werner Herzog|last=Harris|first=Mark|date=29 July 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=20 May 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=20 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520125802/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/books/review/Harris-t.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Herzog has said that our civilization is "starving for new images"; in a 1982 interview with [[Roger Ebert]], he explained that "We do not have adequate images for our kind of civilization...We are surrounded by images that are worn out, and I believe that unless we discover new images, we will die out." He has said it is his mission to help us discover new images: "I am trying to make something that has not been made before."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title=Awake in the Dark: The Best of Roger Ebert |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |year=2006}}</ref> He is proud of never using [[storyboard]]s and often improvising large parts of the script. He explains this technique in the commentary track to ''[[Aguirre, the Wrath of God]]''.

In 1999, before a public dialogue with critic [[Roger Ebert]] at the [[Walker Art Center]], Herzog read a new [[manifesto]], which he dubbed Minnesota Declaration: Truth and Fact in Documentary Cinema.<ref>{{cite web |date=30 April 1999 |title=Werner Herzog Reads His Minnesota Declaration: Truth and Fact in Documentary Cinema |url=https://walkerart.org/magazine/minnesota-declaration-truth-documentary-cinema |access-date=8 August 2017 |publisher=[[Walker Art Center]] |archive-date=8 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808194802/https://walkerart.org/magazine/minnesota-declaration-truth-documentary-cinema |url-status=live }}</ref> Subtitled "Lessons of Darkness", [[Lessons of Darkness|after his film of that name]], the 12-point declaration began: "Cinema Verité is devoid of verité. It reaches a merely superficial truth, the truth of accountants." Herzog explained that "There are deeper strata of truth in cinema, and there is such a thing as poetic, ecstatic truth. It is mysterious and elusive, and can be reached only through fabrication and imagination and stylization" and that "facts sometimes have a strange and bizarre power that makes their inherent truth seem unbelievable."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Werner Herzog Walker Dialogue With Roger Ebert |website=[[YouTube]] |date=28 April 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQj3XuRkx-s |access-date=6 July 2022 |archive-date=6 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706213713/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQj3XuRkx-s |url-status=live }}</ref> Ebert later wrote of its significance: "For the first time, it fully explained his theory of 'ecstatic truth.{{'"}}<ref>{{cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=30 April 1999 |title=Herzog's Minnesota declaration: defining 'ecstatic truth' |url=http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/herzogs-minnesota-declaration-defining-ecstatic-truth |access-date=8 August 2017 |website=RogerEbert.com |publisher= |archive-date=8 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808195939/http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/herzogs-minnesota-declaration-defining-ecstatic-truth |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2017, Herzog wrote a six-point addendum to the manifesto,<ref>{{cite web |date=19 June 2017 |title=Werner Herzog Makes Trump-Era Addition to His Minnesota Declaration |url=https://walkerart.org/magazine/werner-herzog-minnesota-declaration-2017-addendum |access-date=8 August 2017 |publisher=[[Walker Art Center]] |archive-date=8 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808194259/https://walkerart.org/magazine/werner-herzog-minnesota-declaration-2017-addendum |url-status=live }}</ref> prompted by a question about "truth in an age of alt-facts".<ref>{{cite web |date=19 June 2017 |title=What is Truth in an Age of Alternative Facts |url=https://walkerart.org/magazine/series/what-is-truth-in-an-age-of-alternative-facts |access-date=8 August 2017 |publisher=[[Walker Art Center]] |archive-date=8 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808193521/https://walkerart.org/magazine/series/what-is-truth-in-an-age-of-alternative-facts |url-status=live }}</ref>

His treatment of subjects has been characterized as [[Richard Wagner|Wagnerian]] in its scope, but film theory has in recent years focused on the concept of the ecstatic and the nomadic character of his film. The plot of ''Fitzcarraldo'' is based on the building of an opera house and his later film ''[[Invincible (2001 drama film)|Invincible]]'' (2001) touches on the character of [[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/1753|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803002142/http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/1753|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 August 2012|title=BFI – Sight & Sound – Film of the Month: Invincible (2001)|first=The British Film|last=Institute|website=old.bfi.org.uk|access-date=20 August 2018}}</ref> Herzog's documentary ''[[The Transformation of the World into Music]]'' goes behind the scenes of the [[Bayreuth Festival]]. Herzog has directed several operas, including Mozart's ''[[The Magic Flute]]'', Beethoven's ''[[Fidelio]]'', and Wagner's ''[[Parsifal]].''

=== Teaching ===
Critical of film schools,<ref>{{cite web|title=Werner Herzog on the future of film school, critical connectivity, and Pokémon Go|url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/28/12312538/werner-herzog-interview-masterclass-lo-and-behold|last=Yoshida|first=Emily|website=The Verge|date=28 July 2016|access-date=30 August 2019|archive-date=30 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830104728/https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/28/12312538/werner-herzog-interview-masterclass-lo-and-behold|url-status=live}}</ref> Herzog has taught three cinema workshops. From 2009 to 2016, he organized the Rogue Film School, in which young directors spent a few days with him in evocative locations.<ref>{{cite web|title=Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School|url=http://www.roguefilmschool.com/|website=Rogue Film School|access-date=30 August 2019|archive-date=14 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414024359/http://roguefilmschool.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> What exactly goes on at the rogue film school has been clouded in secrecy, but director and writer Kristoffer Hegnsvad report from his stay there in his book ''Werner Herzog – Ecstatic Truth and Other Useless Conquests'':  "The first thing you notice is his enormous presence. His self-confidence sends shockwaves through a room every time he opens his mouth or make eye contact; he adopts a stance of exalted calm, as though he has achieved some kind of mastery – not just over his own mind, but over the capriciousness of the world" ".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hegnsvad |first=Kristoffer |title= Werner Herzog – Ecstatic Truth and Other Useless Conquests |publisher= Reaktion Books |year=2021}}</ref> Lessons ranged from "How does music function in film?" to "The creation of your own shooting permits".

In 2018, he held "Filming in Peru with Werner Herzog", a twelve-day workshop in the Amazonian rainforest, close to the locations for ''[[Fitzcarraldo]]'', for new filmmakers from around the world. Each made a short film under Herzog's supervision.<ref>{{cite web|title=Werner Herzog Is Returning to the Amazon, and He's Bringing 48 Students With Him for a Filmmaking Workshop|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2017/12/werner-herzog-filmmaking-workshop-peru-1201907717/|last=Nordine|first=Michael|website=IndieWire|date=14 December 2017|access-date=30 August 2019|archive-date=30 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830104725/https://www.indiewire.com/2017/12/werner-herzog-filmmaking-workshop-peru-1201907717/|url-status=live}}</ref> Herzog was enthusiastic, and said of the resulting films that "the best 10 of them are better than the selections for best short film at the Academy Awards".<ref>{{cite web|title=Werner Herzog Says He's Acting in 'a Big Franchise Film' and Shot a Secret Movie in Japan — Exclusive|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2018/09/werner-herzog-franchise-film-huckleberry-japan-tiff-2018-1202002748/|last=Kohn|first=Eric|website=IndieWire|date=11 September 2018|access-date=30 August 2019|archive-date=30 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830105226/https://www.indiewire.com/2018/09/werner-herzog-franchise-film-huckleberry-japan-tiff-2018-1202002748/|url-status=live}}</ref> Workshop participants included directors Rupert Clague and [[Quentin Lazzarotto]]. Herzog is also on the website [[MasterClass]], where he presents a course on filmmaking, entitled "Werner Herzog teaches filmmaking".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://filmmakermagazine.com/99091-i-tried-not-to-be-didactic-werner-herzog-masterclass/|title='I Tried Not to Be Didactic': Werner Herzog on His MasterClass|work=Filmmaker Magazine|access-date=21 February 2018|archive-date=22 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222044633/https://filmmakermagazine.com/99091-i-tried-not-to-be-didactic-werner-herzog-masterclass/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Werner Herzog: "You can learn the essentials of filmmaking in two weeks" |url=https://filmindustry.network/werner-herzog-can-learn-essentials-filmmaking-two-weeks/31129 |publisher=Film Industry Network |date=30 May 2016 |access-date=5 July 2019 |archive-date=16 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116063900/https://filmindustry.network/werner-herzog-can-learn-essentials-filmmaking-two-weeks/31129 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Werner Herzog Teaches Filmmaking|url=https://www.masterclass.com/classes/werner-herzog-teaches-filmmaking|website=MasterClass|access-date=30 August 2019|archive-date=30 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830104726/https://www.masterclass.com/classes/werner-herzog-teaches-filmmaking|url-status=live}}</ref> In a discussion with [[Errol Morris]] at the [[Toronto International Film Festival|Toronto Film Festival]], Morris, who was influenced by Herzog's early films, joked that he considered himself one of the first students of the Rogue Film School. Regarding Herzog's influence on him, Morris quoted [[Gabriel García Márquez]]'s reaction to reading [[Franz Kafka|Kafka]] for the first time: "I didn't know you were allowed to do that."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDijNdxAUeM | title=- YouTube | website=[[YouTube]] | access-date=25 July 2022 | archive-date=25 July 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220725214855/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDijNdxAUeM&gl=US&hl=en | url-status=live }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Herzog has been married three times and has three children. In 1967, he married Martje Grohmann and they had a son named Rudolph Amos Achmed (born 1973).<ref>LCRO Standesamt Bayern Muenchen</ref> They divorced in 1985.<ref>Standesamt Bayern Muenchen</ref> He later began dating Austrian-German actress [[Eva Mattes]], and they had a daughter named Hanna Mattes (born 1980) before splitting up.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/mar/30/books.guardianreview |title=The Guardian Profile: The enigma of Werner H |last=O'Mahony |first=John |date=30 March 2002 |website=theguardian.com |access-date=21 March 2019 |archive-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112233918/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/mar/30/books.guardianreview |url-status=live }}</ref> He married Christine Maria Ebenberger in 1987,<ref>LCRO Standesamt Wien Landstrasse</ref> and they had a son named Simon (born 1989).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.herzog.io/|title=Procedural art|website=Simon Herzog|access-date=7 August 2020|archive-date=23 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923034444/https://www.herzog.io/|url-status=live}}</ref> They divorced in 1997.<ref>Standesamt Wien Landstrasse</ref> Herzog moved to Los Angeles in 1996 and married Russian-American photographer [[Lena Herzog|Elena Pisetski]] in 1999.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.biography.com/people/werner-herzog-21239203 |title=Werner Herzog Biography |last=Lee |first=Jade |publisher=Biography |date=6 March 2018 |website=biography.com |access-date=21 March 2019 |archive-date=20 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320215203/https://www.biography.com/people/werner-herzog-21239203 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Herzog is a voracious reader. As required reading for the Rogue Film School, he has listed [[J. A. Baker]]'s ''The Peregrine'', [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Georgics]]'', and [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s ''[[The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber]]''. Suggested reading includes the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'' as translated from [[Old Norse]] by Lee M. Hollander, [[Bernal Díaz del Castillo]]'s ''[[Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España]]'' (''The True History of the Conquest of New Spain''), and the 888-page report published by the [[Warren Commission|President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School |url=http://www.roguefilmschool.com/about.asp |access-date=26 June 2016 |archive-date=8 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708212432/http://www.roguefilmschool.com/about.asp |url-status=live }}</ref>

Herzog has been described as an [[atheist]].<ref>"Herzog is an avowed atheist, but in a certain sense his films, especially in recent years, have become highly spiritual in focus. Due to its subject and its characters "Into the Abyss" is suffused with a Christian religiosity that the director treats with great respect." Andrew O'Hehir, ''Salon.com'', 11 November 2011. [http://www.salon.com/topic/werner_herzog/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607054152/http://www.salon.com/topic/werner_herzog/|date=7 June 2017}}</ref> In addition to standard German and his native Bavarian, he speaks English, French, Greek, Italian and Spanish.<ref>{{youTube|6pY-0JfEdLY|Werner Herzog on Languages ...}}</ref> He can also read [[Latin language|Latin]] and [[Ancient Greek]].<ref name="YouTube-2" />

==Filmography==
{{main|Werner Herzog filmography}}
Since 1962, Herzog has directed 20 fiction feature films, seven fiction short films, and 34 documentary feature films, as well as eight documentary short films and episodes of two television series. He has also been the screenwriter or co-writer for all his films and for four others, and has appeared as an actor in 26 film or television productions.

==Bibliography==
{{main|Werner Herzog bibliography}}

==Stage works==

===Opera===
Source, Homepage.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wernerherzog.com/opera-by-werner-herzog.html|title=Werner Herzog Film – Complete Works Opera|website=www.wernerherzog.com|access-date=30 October 2023|archive-date=30 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030203619/https://www.wernerherzog.com/opera-by-werner-herzog.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{div col}}
* ''[[Doktor Faust]]'' (1986, [[Teatro Comunale di Bologna]])
* ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]'' (1987, [[Bayreuth Festival]])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bayreuther-festspiele.de/fsdb_en/personen/9903/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721052039/http://www.bayreuther-festspiele.de/fsdb_en/personen/9903/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 July 2011 |title=Bayreuth Festival web portal: Werner Herzog's biography |publisher=Bayreuther-festspiele.de |access-date=9 August 2014 }}</ref>
* ''[[Giovanna d'Arco]]'' (1989, Teatro Comunale di Bologna)
* ''[[The Magic Flute]]'' (1991, [[Teatro Massimo Bellini]], [[Catania]])
* ''[[La donna del lago]]'' (1992, [[La Scala|Teatro alla Scala]], Milan)
* ''[[Der fliegende Holländer]]'' (1993, [[Opéra Bastille]])
* ''[[Norma (opera)|Norma]]'' (1994, [[Verona Arena]])
* ''[[Il Guarany]]'' (1994, [[Theater Bonn]])
* ''[[Il Guarany]]'' (1996, [[Washington National Opera]])
* ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'' (1997 [[Opéra Royal de Wallonie]]; [[Liège]])
* ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'' (1997 [[Teatro de la Maestranza]]; [[Sevilla]])
* ''[[Chūshingura]]'' (1997, [[Tokyo Opera City Tower|Tokyo Opera]])
* ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'' (1998 [[Teatro Massimo]]; [[Palermo]])
* ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'' (1998 [[Teatro di San Carlo]]; [[Naples]])
* ''[[Fidelio]]'' (1999, [[La Scala]], [[Milan]])
* ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'' (1999 [[Teatro Real]]; [[Madrid]])
* ''[[The Magic Flute]]'' (1999, [[Teatro Massimo Bellini]], [[Catania]])
* ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'' (1999 [[Teatro Real]]; [[Madrid]])
* ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'' (2000 [[Baltimore Opera Company]]; [[Baltimore]])
* ''[[The Magic Flute]]'' (2001, [[Baltimore Opera Company]], [[Baltimore]])
* ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'' (2001 [[Houston Grand Opera]]; [[Houston]])
* ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'' (2001 [[Theatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro)]]; [[Rio de Janeiro]])
* ''[[Giovanna d'Arco]]'' (2001, [[Teatro Carlo Felice]], [[Genoa]])
* ''[[Der fliegende Holländer]]'' (2002, DomStufen Festspiele [[Erfurt]])
* ''[[Fidelio]]'' (2003, [[La Scala]], [[Milan]])
* ''[[Parsifal]]'' (2008, [[Palau de les Arts]], [[Valencia, Spain|Valencia]])<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/parsifal-at-palau-de-les-arts-valencia-5l398l067zm|title=Parsifal at Palau de les Arts, Valencia|first=Neil|last=Fisher|date=31 October 2008 |via=www.thetimes.co.uk|access-date=23 September 2019|archive-date=24 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924142435/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/parsifal-at-palau-de-les-arts-valencia-5l398l067zm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[I due Foscari]]'' (2013, [[Teatro dell'Opera di Roma]], [[Rome]])

===Theatre===
* ''Varété'' (1992, [[Hebbel-Theater]], [[Berlin]])
* ''Floresta Amazonica ([[A Midsummer Night's Dream]])'' (1992, [[Teatro João Caetano]], [[Rio de Janeiro]])
* ''Specialitaeten'' (1993, [[Etablissement Ronacher]], [[Vienna]])

===Concerts===
* [[The Killers]]: ''[[Unstaged]]'' (2012, [[Paradise Theater (Bronx)|Paradise Theater]], New York City)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Works cited==
* Werner Herzog. [http://www.thestickingplace.com/projects/projects/wernerherzog/ ''A Guide for the Perplexed: Conversations with Paul Cronin'']. London: Faber & Faber, 2014. {{ISBN|978-0-571-25977-9}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Herzog |first1=Werner |last2=Cronin |first2=Paul |title=Herzog on Herzog |date=2002 |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=New York |isbn=978-0-571-20708-4 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/herzogonherzog00herz}}
* Eric Ames, ed. ''Werner Herzog: Interviews''. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2014. {{ISBN|978-1-61703-969-0}}.
* Werner Herzog. ''[[Every Man for Himself and God Against All: A Memoir]] ''. Penguin Press, 2023. {{ISBN| 978-0-59349-029-7}}.
* Emmanuel Carrère. ''Werner Herzog''. Paris: Ediling, 1982. {{ISBN|2-85601-017-2}}
* Brad Prager. ''The Cinema of Werner Herzog: Aesthetic Ecstasy and Truth''. New York: Wallflower Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-1-905674-18-3}}.
* Eric Ames. ''Ferocious Reality. Documentary according to Werner Herzog''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012.
* Moritz Holfelder. ''Werner Herzog. Die Biografie''. Munich: LangenMüller, 2012. {{ISBN|978-3-7844-3303-5}}.
* Brad Prager, ed. ''A Companion to Werner Herzog''. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1-405-19440-2}}.
* Richard Eldridge. ''Werner Herzog—Filmmaker and Philosopher''. London: Bloomsbury, 2019. {{ISBN|978-1-350-10015-2}}.
* Kristoffer Hegnsvad. ''Werner Herzog – Ecstatic Truth and Other Useless Conquests''. London: Reaktion, 2021. {{ISBN|978-1-789-14410-9}}.
* David LaRocca. ''Werner Herzog / Rogue Filmmaker''. New York: Sticking Place Books, 2024. {{ISBN|978-1-942782-72-8}}.

==External links==
{{sister project links|d=Q44131|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|s=no|wikt=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|c=category:Werner Herzog}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{IMDb name|0001348}}
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150121145843/https://shootingpeople.org/herzog/|date=21 January 2015}} Judged on Sunday 27 September 2009.

{{Werner Herzog}}
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