Thomas Mauch

“Nothing is typical for Werner, only the atypical is typical for him.” This is just one of many attempts to characterize Werner Herzog. Documentary filmmaker Thomas von Steinaecker spoke to actors, directors, directors of photography and producers who have worked with Herzog over his long career—including directors Chloé Zhao, Joshua Oppenheimer and Wim Wenders, singer Patti Smith and actors Nicole Kidman, Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson. We also hear from Herzog himself, with extraordinary anecdotes about film locations and shoots, his admiration for Lotte Eisner, and his eternal search for beauty. The interviews are carefully punctuated by archive footage of Herzog never seen before, iconic excerpts from his feature films and documentaries, and his cameos in cartoon series such as The Simpsons. Together they create a kaleidoscopic image of a radical visionary and dreamer, and of his very own “Werner World.”

Saroyanland is a docu-drama focusing on the journey of famous writer William Saroyan to the birthplace of his Armenian family Bitlis, in Turkey in 1964. While retaking the same road, the film aims to understand Saroyan's unique attitude to belonging, witnessing the self-discovery of a man who followed the traces of his Armenian ancestors.

Berlin during the Nazi reign: Young music student Ursula is a talented musician and a fervent admirer of the "Führer". When she is asked to assist renowned composer Broch, who was ordered to compose a cantata for Hitler′s 50th birthday, it first seems like a dream fulfilled. Over the time, Broch and Ursula fall in love, and her relationship with the former communist gradually changes Ursula′s perspective on the realities of Nazi Germany. But falling in love with a Nazi means a huge moral conflict for Broch.

It was the biggest escape in the history of the Berlin Wall: in one historic night of October 1964, 57 East-Berliners try their luck through a tunnel into West Berlin. Just before the last few reach the other side, the East German border guards notice the escape and open fire. Remarkably, all the refugees and their escape agents make it out of the tunnel unscathed, but one border guard is dead: 21-year-old officer Egon Schultz.

Late 17th Century: Anne de Grandcamp and Lucie de Fontenelle, two little girls from Normandy, arrive at the Saint-Cyr school founded by Madame de Maintenon for educating the daughters of impoverished nobles ruined in wars and making them into free women. Madame de Maintenon is the secret wife of Louis XIV, and empowered by his support, she offers "her" two hundred fifty girls a playful and avant-garde education. Anne and Lucie, two inseparable friends, allow themselves to be carried away by the promise of a bright future. But Maintenon has arrived at the pinnacle of power through scheming and debasing herself and she now fears the fires of hell. She is counting on her model school to atone for her past sins.

1991년 사망한 독일 배우 클라우스 킨스키. 그는 베르너 헤어초크 감독의 페르소나이며, 헤어초크 감독과 애증의 관계를 넘나들며 예술적 교감을 이루었다. 헤어초크는 킨스키가 죽은 후, 킨스키에 관한 다큐멘터리를 들고 그와 함께 했던 시간과 그 속에서 피어난 감정 같은 것들에 대해 이야기한다. 99년 칸 국제영화제 상영작. -- 2002 부천국제영화제

Sweety Barrett is a giant of a man with the mind of a child. An easy target in a corrupt world, Sweety becomes embroiled in a smuggling operation unleashing a spiral of dangerous and unexpected events.

Orson Welles' archives of unfinished/never released movies and the last years of his life from the perspective of Oja Kodar (life and artistic partner of Orson Welles in his last years).

Four policemen go undercover and infiltrate a gang of football hooligans hoping to route out their leaders. For one of the four, the line between 'job' and 'yob' becomes more unclear as time passes . . .

Poetic documentary about the deconstruction of a railroad track in South Germany.

Poetic documentary about the deconstruction of a railroad track in South Germany.

For many years the old Waller worked as a railwayman. After Waller is informed that "his" track will be closed down and that he will be retired, he walks the route for one last time and starts to remember his life along the way: Beginning in his childhood in the 1920s, he commemorates the death of his great love as well as he recalls the legal battle with his illegitimate daughter.

Katja Junge plays the title role in this West German romantic drama, directed by noted cinematographer Thomas Mauch. Maria is just as girl who can't say "Nein," thus she goes through several lovers before the plot proper gets underway. When Maria finally falls in love for real, it is with repressed astronomer Robert Duessler. Afraid to make physical contact, Duessler prefers to gaze at Maria from a distance through his telescope. Not surprisingly, the film's title translates to Mary of the Stars.

Making-of documentary that covers "Cobra Verde," Herzog's last film with Kinski before Kinski's death. This is the documentary that registers the behind the scenes moments of "Cobra Verde", the last project that united director Werner Herzog to actor Klaus Kinski. The notorious and infamous relation between the two filled Cinema theatres with masterpieces, but also filled pages of Cinema History with mutual declarations of both love and hate.

The Distant Land (German: Das weite Land) is a 1987 Austrian-German drama film directed by Luc Bondy. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. Based on a play by Arthur Schnitzler, which is generally referred to in English as The Vast Domain and was also adapted by Tom Stoppard as Undiscovered Country.

Celebrated West German director Alexander Kluge presents this drama that strings together vignettes of events taken from everyday newspaper headlines. Germans are shown in their reactions to World War II, minorities, and the elderly. A side plot follows a meeting between former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and East German leader Erich Honecker.

An autobiographical short film by Werner Herzog made in 1986. Herzog tells stories about his life and career. The film contains excerpts and commentary on several Herzog films, including Signs of Life, Heart of Glass, Fata Morgana, Aguirre, the Wrath of God, The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner, Fitzcarraldo, and the Les Blank documentary Burden of Dreams. Notable is footage of a conversation between Herzog and his mentor Lotte Eisner, a photographer. In another section, he talks with mountaineer Reinhold Messner, in which they discuss a potential film project in the Himalayas to star Klaus Kinski.

A poignant film essay about 'superfluous people' facing up to a moment of crisis in their lives.

The ultimate answer to all your problems: a slap in the face.

The Cold War is peaking again in divided Germany in the early 1980s. How to deal with the upcoming nuclear annihilation shows this Alexander Kluge short.

The emotion and feelings should not be confused with sentimentality. Emotion is ancient and more powerful than any artistic expression. The film observes young couples face difficulties while trying to move their love experiences clear decision making. A film full of ideas, details and associations, fictional scenes, documentary footage, archival materials and opera music.

Reverend Huie Rogers is a preacher at the Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Brooklyn. He is the topic of this short film, during which launches into an epic call-and-response denunciation of human hubris, greed, corruption and failure. The use of lengthy shots present it less like a sermon and more a performance, and induce an almost trance-like state.

아마존 정글 속에 오페라 하우스를 지어 최고의 오페라 공연을 무대에 올리려 하는 열렬한 오페라광 피츠카랄도의 이야기를 그린 베르너 헤어초크의 1982년작 의 제작 과정을 담은 다큐멘터리. 헤어초크는 실제로 아마존 정글에서 무모한 로케이션 촬영을 감행했고, 주연을 맡은 클라우스 킨스키, 클라우디아 카르디날레를 비롯한 제작진은 점점 지쳐 갔다. 레스 블랭크가 헤어초크의 광기 어린 창작열에 두려움 없이 다가갔으며, 블랭크의 최고작으로 평가받고 있다.

The third episodical film, after Deutschland im Herbst and Der Kandidat, in which notable German film makers reflect on the state of their country.

아마존강 유역의 작은 도시에 사는 피츠카랄도는 대단한 오페라광인데 그는 아마존의 정글 속에 훌륭한 오페라하우스를 지어 카루소와 베른하르트가 출연하는 베르디의 오페라를 공연하는것이 소원이다. 그래서 자금을 마련하기위해 고무를 찾아서 배를 타고 밀림 속으로 모험을 떠난다. 이처럼 간단한 줄거리는 고도의 상징과 진행의 정확성, 잔꾀를 멀리하고 몸으로 부닥치는 제작 태도, 몽환적이며 동시에 진실한 성격 등이 어울려힘과 기백이 살아숨쉬는 작품으로 완성되고 있다. 밀림 속에서 만나게 되는 원주민들과 피츠카랄도의 관계는 대중과 선구적인예술가의 관계를 상징하는데 피츠카랄도의 무모한 행적이 원주민신앙의 신탁에 의한 것으로 설정되어 숭고한 인간의 의지로 승화되는 것은 이 작품의 자연주의적인 진행방법과 접목되어 완성도를 한층 높여주고 있다. 헤어조크가 자주 등장시키는 유명한 배우 클라우스 킨스키는 브루노와 함께 헤어조크의 작품세계에 가장 잘 어울린다. 킨스키가 보여주는 피츠카랄도의 이미지는 헤어조크 자신을 반영하는 듯한 감도 있다. 이 작품을 제작, 연출하면서 보여준 헤어조크의 열정과 의지 또한 피츠카랄도의 그것과 똑같은 것이었다.

Doctors say that Veronika, a woman in her 20s, is schizophrenic. She is compliant, which makes her an easy target for men. She's religious, believing she is God's favorite child; she searches for Jesus. She has sent a letter to a filmmaker suggesting her life as the subject for a movie. We see her raped then take up with a series of men she believes are Jesus, each willing or insistent on sex. A young man with his own crisis of faith invites her to join a cult. We see her involuntarily committed to an asylum from time to time where medication and constraints await. Her wealthy parents are helpless. Will a medical professional ever talk to her? If one did, would it help?

The documentary follows Gene Scott, famous televangelist involved with constant fights against FCC, who tried to shut down his TV show during the 1970s and '80s, and even argues with his viewers, complaining about their lack of support by not sending enough money to keep going with the show.

Made with an eye to the autumn of 1980 when the German parliamentary elections took place, The Candidate examines Germany’s history past and present and Franz Josef Strauß, the man who, as the CDU/CSU candidate, aspires to be elected to the most important political office in the land.

An impoverished young man from Sicily travels to Wolfsburg, West Germany to find work. He takes a job in the Volkswagen factory after he travels through Northern Italy by train.

An impoverished young man from Sicily travels to Wolfsburg, West Germany to find work. He takes a job in the Volkswagen factory after he travels through Northern Italy by train.

Gabi Teichert, a history teacher, is unhappy with the way history is portrayed in textbooks and is looking for an alternative, more practical approach to 'uncovering' the past, quite literally digging with the spade and dissecting books with hammers and drills.

Interview film with German director Werner Herzog revisiting the films he made up to ca. 1977.

Cahiers du cinéma critic Serge Daney asks whether The Kingdom of Naples is "leftist fiction, kitschy melodrama, photo-roman, a decadent chronicle of a city, opera in a minor key, or simply the first realistic narrative film by Schroeter?" It is all of these and more: an epic chronicle of proletarian family life in Naples from 1943 to 1972 that brilliantly captures the wretched poverty, overwrought passions, and political, religious and economic upheavals of Sicily across two generations. Schroeter assimilates neorealist aesthetics and class sympathies with the tempestuous excesses of popular melodrama, borrowing freely from Rossellini, Pasolini, Visconti, Brecht, and Rossini. (Facets)

The life and struggles of the German writer Heinrich von Kleist.

방랑 음악인이자 발라드 가수인 브루노 슈트로스체크가 석방된다. 감독은 그에게 더이상 술을 마시지 말라고 경고한다. 그러나 그는 감옥 문지방을 넘자마자 모퉁이에 있는 술집에서 맥주를 마시며 바깥 세상과의 만남을 축하한다. 그는 매춘부 에바를 만나면서 새 삶을 살기로 결심한다. 그들은 에바를 학대하는 포주로부터 벗어나기 위해 이웃에 사는 노인 샤이츠씨의 조카가 주유소를 하고 있는 미국으로 도주한다. 행복한 시간도 잠시 에바는 화물 운전수와 달아나고 슈트로스체크는 추운 11월의 어느 아침, 안개가 자욱한 언덕에서 총으로 자살하고 만다.

Erika and Franziska haven't seen each other for 4 years. 10 years earlier they both felt that they had the same chances in life: both were young, attractive and imaginative. They overlooked what would, right from the outset, separate them: their very different emotional make-up, their different character. In a long nighttime discussion the friends try to clear up these differences - not without some glimmer of hope.

Erika and Franziska haven't seen each other for 4 years. 10 years earlier they both felt that they had the same chances in life: both were young, attractive and imaginative. They overlooked what would, right from the outset, separate them: their very different emotional make-up, their different character. In a long nighttime discussion the friends try to clear up these differences - not without some glimmer of hope.

펜실베이니아 주 랭커스터 카운티의 아미쉬 지역에서 매년 세계 옥션 챔피언 대회가 열린다. 이 대회에 참여한 이들은 누가 가장 빠르게 말하는지를 겨루고 헤어조크는 이들을 인터뷰한다. (2012 한국영상자료원 - 베르너 헤어조크 감독전)

The clownish security chief of a West German business is obsessed with protecting his factory from fancied and real breaches, especially from groups such as The Red Army Faction. Ferdinand's paranoia and methods can't be contained by his company. The sympathetically-drawn Ferdinand's ludicrous actions recall those of the cynical, disastrous axis between fascism and big business in 1930's Europe: satire of the rise of private security.

In order to be reunited with Mahmood (Ören), a man she was promised to as a young girl, 20-year-old Shirin (Erten) leaves the life she had in a small village in Turkey in search of him.

An adaptation of Franz Kafka's classic story about Gregor Samsa, a man who awakes and sees himself suddenly turned into a repulsive insect.

1974년 어느 날 밤 베를린, 배우인 그리샤와 하인리히는 사고로 리허설 홀에 갇히게 된다. 하룻밤 사이 둘은 서로에 대해 알게 되고 그리샤는 남편을 떠나 하인리히에게 온다. 68운동 이후 시도된 개혁에도 불구하고 그 이상이 지켜지지 않음에 당황한 이들은 새로운 목표를 찾는다. 과거와 현재에 대해 열띤 토론을 마친 후, 둘은 새로운 낙태 법안을 위한 투쟁을 시작하려 하지만 돌연한 임신에 둘의 관계는 더욱 복잡하게 된다.

Roswitha runs an illegal abortion clinic in Frankfurt to support her student husband and children. When she is forced to close her practice she delves into political and social activism.

Short by Alexander Kluge.

1560년, 스페인 원정대는 아마존 강 기슭에 있다는 황금의 도시 엘도라도를 향해 모험을 나선다. 아무도 가보지 않은 전설의 땅으로 가는 길이 험난해지자 피사로 장군은 우루수아를 대장으로 임명하고, 40명의 선발대를 뗏목에 태워 강으로 먼저 보낸다. 원정대와 선발대가 약속한 사전 조사 기간은 일주일, 하지만 엘도라도에 대한 강한 정복욕에 사로잡힌 아귀레는 대장 우루수아를 가두고 반란을 일으킨다. 배고픔과 질병, 식인종들의 습격 속에서 작은 뗏목은 커다란 광기에 휩싸이는데...

Outer space in 2034 is run by greedy corporations in a rundown bureaucracy. Two astronauts, who are not very smart, make their way with shady dealings, smuggling and spaceship wrecking.

난쟁이 수용소에서 폭동을 일으킨 난쟁이들...역시 난쟁이인 수용소 관리인은 건물에 인질 한 명을 데리고 갇혀 있다. 밖에서는 몇몇 난쟁이들이 닥치는 대로 부수고, 불 지르고, 새끼가 있는 어미 돼지와 닭, 눈먼 난쟁이들도 괴롭히고, 그중에서 좀 더 작은 난쟁이 또한 괴롭힌다. 자신들도 당했을 폭력이나 차별의 것들에 대해 결국에는 자신들보다 못하고 힘없는 대상에 무차별하게 가하고 있었다. 그리고 결국엔 자신보다 우월한 대상에게 아무런 힘도 못 쓰고 도망쳐 버리는데... 영화의 등장인물 전부가 난장이인 영화. 이 작품에서 '난장이'는 인류를 가리키는 은유로 쓰이고 있다. 영화에 등장하는 난장이들은 자신들이 살고 있는 세계에서 동일한 장애와 한계를 갖고 있지만, 그들은 자신보다 못한 단점을 지닌 다른 난장이들을 괴롭히는데 주력한다. 이를테면 좀 더 키가 작거나 장님인 난장이를 괴롭히는 식이다. 영화의 이런 테마는 자신이 가진 한계를 인식하지 못하고 좀 더 많은 한계를 가진 대상에게 자신의 폭력적인 양상을 투영하는 인류를 강렬히 빗대고 있다. (2002년 제6회 부천국제판타스틱영화제)

The Flying Doctors of East Africa (German: Die Fliegenden Ärzte von Ostafrika) is a 1969 documentary film by Werner Herzog about the "flying doctors" service of the African Medical and Research Foundation in Tanzania, Kenya, and Nairobi.

The Indomitable Leni Peickert is a loose, half-hour sequel to Alexander Kluge's second feature film, Artists in the Big Top: Perplexed. This shorter work, seemingly assembled from leftover footage from the longer film, continues the story of the circus owner Leni Peickert after she first abandoned her idea of a radical circus in favor of a job in television. It opens where the previous film left off, at a TV station where Leni and her friends have gathered as employees, attempting to infiltrate the corporate establishment with their own revolutionary ideas. This radicalism is somewhat undercut by the way that Kluge deliberately shoots down the low-cut blouse of one of these young revolutionaries, the camera eyeing her cleavage and then panning down, to the text she's reading, and then back up again, finding her sexuality ultimately much more interesting than her radicalism.

1967년 여름, 프랑스인 안은 뮌헨에 사는 친구이자 저널리스트인 카타리나를 방문한다. 둘은 카페에서 혹은 파티에서 사람들과 만나 가부장제 사회에서 여성이 해방될 수 있는지 대해 이야기를 나눈다.

A young circus director ends up going into television after her father, a trapeze performer, dies in a circus accident.

헤어조크 감독이 24세에 연출한 장편 데뷔작으로 제2차 세계대전 점령기 시 그리스의 어느 섬에 머물게 된 독일 장병 스트로첵이 광기에 빠져드는 이야기이다. 군수품 창고를 지키는 임무를 받은 스트로첵은 아무 일도 일어나지 않는 섬의 평온함에 어느 날 발작을 일으키고 섬의 모든 사람에게 이유 없는 반항을 감행하게 된다. 영화는 "강박관념에 사로잡힌 주인공, 매혹적이면서도 동시에 위압적인 자연의 풍경, '순환'하는 원의 이미지 등" 향후 헤어조크적이라고 불린 모티프들을 보여주고 있다. (2012 한국영상자료원 - 베르너 헤어조크 감독전) 베르너 헤어조크의 장편 데뷔작. 그리스의 크레타 섬에서 창고를 지키는 임무를 맡은 독일군이 주인공이다. 이들은 전쟁 중임에도 그것과 무관하게 반복되는 일상에서 서서히 미쳐간다. 전혀 고립된 보이지 않는 환경에서 스스로 고립되어 가는 인간군상이라는 모티프는 이후 헤어조크 영화에 등장하게 되는 인물들에 대한 예고편과도 같다. 헤어조크는 이 작품으로 베를린 영화제에서 은곰상을 받으며 주목을 받았다. (2002년 부천국제판타스틱영화제)

Early short by Werner Herzog shot while being on location in Greece shooting "Lebenszeichen".

Kluge’s short-film starring his sister/muse Alexandra.

In 1966, German film critic Theodor Kotulla — who would go on to become one of the New German Cinema's most uncompromising filmmakers — visited the set of Robert Bresson's "Mouchette" (1967) and created this half-hour documentary about the director. It won the 1967 German Film Award for best short documentary.

Short by Edgar Reitz.

Elizabeth is a young woman who seeks happiness excessively burning out all those around her.

A young German woman searches for happiness, liberation, and independence in the illusive wake of a transformative national recovery.

A short montage about rhythm, movement, and speed.

Early documentary by Edgar Reitz.