Werner Herzog

Born: 1942-09-05

Werner Herzog (German: [ˈvɛɐ̯nɐ ˈhɛɐ̯tsoːk]; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unique talents in obscure fields, or individuals in conflict with nature. He is known for his unique filmmaking process, such as disregarding storyboards, emphasizing improvisation, and placing the cast and crew into similar situations as characters in his films. Herzog started work on his first film Herakles in 1961, when he was nineteen. Since then he has produced, written, and directed more than sixty feature films and documentaries, such as Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974), 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 (2000), 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 published more than a dozen books of prose, and directed as many operas. French filmmaker François Truffaut once called Herzog "the most important film director alive." 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." He was named one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine in 2009. Description above from the Wikipedia article Werner Herzog, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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Orion and the Dark

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2024-02-01

A boy with an active imagination faces his fears on an unforgettable journey through the night...

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Penguins of Madagascar

as Documentary Filmmaker (voice)
Released: 2014-11-22

Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private join forces with undercover organization The North Wind to...

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as Zec Chelovek
Released: 2012-12-20

One morning in an ordinary town, five people are shot dead in a seemingly random attack. All...

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See!

What Dreams May Come

as Face
Released: 1998-10-02

Chris Neilson dies to find himself in a heaven more amazing than he could have ever dreamed of....

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Grizzly Man

as Self
Released: 2005-07-20

Werner Herzog's documentary film about the "Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell and what the thirteen...

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Nosferatu the Vampyre

as Hand and Feet in Box with Rats (uncredited)
Released: 1979-01-17

Jonathan Harker, a real estate agent, goes to Transylvania to visit the mysterious Count Dracula...

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Freaks of Nature

as Perfect Being (voice)
Released: 2015-10-30

In the town of Dillford, humans, vampires and zombies were all living in peace - until the alien...

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Cave of Forgotten Dreams

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2010-11-03

Werner Herzog gains exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France,...

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Jack Reacher: When the Man Comes Around

as Self
Released: 2013-05-07

Cast and crew speak on adapting One Shot as the first Jack Reacher film, casting Tom Cruise,...

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Encounters at the End of the World

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2007-09-01

Herzog and cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger go to Antarctica to meet people who live and work...

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My Best Fiend

as Self
Released: 1999-05-17

A film that describes the love-hate relationship between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski, the...

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Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds

as Self - Narrator (voice)
Released: 2020-09-10

This remarkable journey across our planet and universe explores how meteorites, shooting stars,...

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Heart of Glass

as Glass Transporter
Released: 1976-11-12

A small Bavarian village is renowned for its "Ruby Glass" glass blowing works. When the foreman...

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Tokyo-Ga

as Self
Released: 1985-04-24

German director Wim Wenders made this documentary in which he tries to explore the Tokyo that...

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The Great Buster: A Celebration

as Self
Released: 2018-10-05

A celebration of the life and career of one of America's most influential and celebrated...

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Salt and Fire

as Man with One Story (uncredited)
Released: 2016-12-07

A scientist blames the head of a large company for an ecological disaster in South America. But...

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Life Itself

as Self - Filmmaker
Released: 2014-07-04

The surprising and entertaining life of renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert...

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Mister Lonely

as Father Umbrillo
Released: 2008-02-02

In Paris, a young American who works as a Michael Jackson lookalike meets Marilyn Monroe, who...

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Little Dieter Needs to Fly

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1997-12-01

In 1966, Dieter Dengler was shot down over Laos, captured, and, down to 85 pounds, escaped....

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The Grand

as The German
Released: 2007-06-07

The Grand is in the tradition of improvisational comedies like Best In Show and This Is Spinal...

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Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World

as Self
Released: 2016-03-04

Werner Herzog's exploration of the Internet and the connected world.

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Julien Donkey-Boy

as Father
Released: 1999-10-15

Undiagnosed, untreated and generally untethered schizophrenic Julien lives with his pregnant...

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Dinotasia

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2012-05-04

Computer-generated animation about the daily lives of dinosaurs, narrated by Werner Herzog.

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Happy People: A Year in the Taiga

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2010-09-03

In the center of the story is the life of the indigenous people of the village Bakhtia at the...

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Into the Inferno

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2016-09-07

With stunning views of eruptions and lava flows, Werner Herzog captures the raw power of...

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Into the Abyss

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2011-11-11

We do not know when and how we will die. Death Row inmates do. Werner Herzog embarks on a...

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The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner

as Self
Released: 1974-01-01

A study of the psychology of a champion ski-flyer, whose full-time occupation is carpentry.

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Lessons of Darkness

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1992-02-21

Shot in documentary style from the perspective of an almost alien observer, the film is an...

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Burden of Dreams

as Self - Filmmaker
Released: 1982-10-01

The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German...

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Scream of Stone

as TV-Regisseur
Released: 1991-10-03

A meeting of two world famous climbers, one an experienced mountaineer the other a sport...

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Hard to Be a God

as Mita / Richard
Released: 1990-01-25

Another planet in the period of medieval times. An employee of the institute of experimental...

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Incident at Loch Ness

as Self
Released: 2004-12-17

When renowned director Werner Herzog and fellow filmmaker Zak Penn set off to explore the legend...

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Dangerous Game

as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: 1993-10-13

A New York film director, working on his latest movie in Los Angeles, begins to reflect the...

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Signs of Life

as Soldier (uncredited)
Released: 1968-07-05

During World War II, three German soldiers are withdrawn from combat when one of them, Stroszek,...

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The Unbelievers

as Self
Released: 2013-12-13

Scientists Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss travel the globe promoting a scientific worldview...

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Where the Green Ants Dream

as Lawyer (uncredited)
Released: 1984-08-31

The Australian Aborigines (in this film anyway) believe that this is the place where the green...

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Room 666

as Self
Released: 1982-06-01

During the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, Wenders asks a number of global film directors to, one at...

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Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin

as Self - Interviewer and Narrator (voice)
Released: 2019-04-28

When Bruce Chatwin was dying of AIDS, his friend Werner Herzog made a final visit. As a parting...

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How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck

as Self
Released: 1976-10-30

A documentary short examining the language and performance of auctioneering, filmed at the World...

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Wheel of Time

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2003-10-30

Wheel of Time is Werner Herzog's photographed look at the largest Buddhist ritual in Bodh Gaya,...

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Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer

as Self
Released: 2022-10-27

With exclusive behind-the-scenes access into Herzog’s everyday life, rare archive material and...

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The White Diamond

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2004-11-13

This 2004 documentary by Werner Herzog diaries the struggle of a passionate English inventor to...

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Meeting Gorbachev

as Self
Released: 2019-05-03

Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union, sits down with filmmaker Werner Herzog...

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Wings of Hope

as Self
Released: 2000-02-01

Werner Herzog returns to the South American jungle with Juliane Koepcke, the German woman who...

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Ballad of the Little Soldier

as Self (voice)
Released: 1984-11-05

Ballad of the Little Soldier is a 1984 documentary film about child soldiers in Nicaragua.

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La Soufrière: Waiting for an Inevitable Catastrophe

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1977-10-01

Werner Herzog takes a film crew to the island of Guadeloupe when he hears that the volcano on...

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Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe

as Self
Released: 1980-11-19

Directors Werner Herzog and Errol Morris make a bet which results in Herzog living up to his...

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The Fire Within: Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2022-06-26

Filmmaker Werner Herzog combs through the film archives of volcanologists Katia and Maurice...

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Scénario de 'Sauve qui peut la vie'

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1979-04-10

Jean-Luc Godard proposes a diary of his creative process. Looking at photos of three actors,...

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Manaslu: Mountain of Souls

as Self
Released: 2018-12-13

The great successes and tragedies in the life and work of Hans Kammerlander, the renowned...

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Bells from the Deep

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1993-09-07

A group of pilgrims lie down on the thin ice of the lake Svetloyar and begin to look for the...

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The Dark Glow of the Mountain

as Self (voice)
Released: 1985-03-09

Werner Herzog follows mountaineers Hans Kammerlander and Reinhold Messner during their...

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The Arc of Oblivion

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2023-03-18

"The Arc of Oblivion" explores a quirk of humankind: in a universe that erases its tracks, we...

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I Am My Films: A Portrait of Werner Herzog

as Self
Released: 1979-04-18

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

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Home from Home – Chronicle of a Vision

as Alexander von Humboldt
Released: 2013-10-03

Follow-up to the TV trilogy “Heimat”, this time for cinemas, set again in the fictional village...

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40 x 15: The Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight

as Self
Released: 2008-05-18

A hstory of the Cannes Film Festival's Director's Fortnight selection.

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Alfonso Sansone: Producer by Chance

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2014-09-10

After the war, almost by chance, Alfonso Sansone starts to produce documentary films and moves...

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Wim Wenders, Desperado

as Self
Released: 2020-07-16

"Wings Of Desire" and "Buena Vista Social Club", "Paris, Texas" and "The State Of Things": Wim...

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Plastic Bag

as Plastic Bag (voice)
Released: 2009-09-07

A plastic bag, thrown out in the trash, attempts to find his way back to his owner and along the...

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Ballad of a Righteous Merchant

as Self
Released: 2017-08-01

Chronicles the making of director Werner Herzog’s 2009 feature, My Son, My Son, What Have Ye...

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God's Angry Man

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1981-05-17

The documentary follows Gene Scott, famous televangelist involved with constant fights against...

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Nosferatu: A Film Like a Vampire

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2022-03-09

From Murnau to Herzog, and until modern incarnations, a mischievous exploration of a...

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An Appreciation of Les Blank by Werner Herzog

as Self
Released: 2013-11-01

Werner Herzog talking about his appreciation for Les Blank.

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Capturing Reality

as Self
Released: 2008-11-01

From cinema-verite; pioneers Albert Maysles and Joan Churchill to maverick movie makers like...

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Close Up

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2012-09-30

More than 150 silent short films about singers, actors and directors captured during Press...

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Echoes from a Sombre Empire

as Self
Released: 1990-11-28

Documentary examining Bokassa's rule in the Central African Republic using the testimony of...

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A Life for Movies: Lotte Eisner

as Self
Released: 2020-11-01

Born in Berlin in 1896, Lotte Eisner became famous for her passionate involvement in the world...

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Pierre Rissient: Man of Cinema

as Self
Released: 2007-09-08

A veteran film critic explores the legacy of Cannes Film Festival regular Pierre Rissient.

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10 Questions for Werner Herzog

as Self
Released: 2012-09-19

Interview with Werner Herzog during his visit to the Indiana University Cinema.

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Last Exit: Space

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2022-03-10

Documentary about space colonization: a voyage across our planet, into the stars and beyond.

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Making of a True Story: Rescue Dawn

as Self
Released: 2007-11-20

"Rescue Dawn: The Making of a True Story" is a documentary film that provides a...

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AGFA Mystery Mixtape #2: Later in L.A.

as Self
Released: 2020-04-22

Unleashed from the video vaults of the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA), AGFA MYSTERY MIXTAPE...

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Journey Through History

as Self
Released: 1977-01-01

A journey through history

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I am My Films, Part 2... 30 Years Later

as Self
Released: 2010-06-28

Christian Weisenborn and Werner Herzog know each other for more than 40 years. His first film on...

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Jag Mandir: The Eccentric Private Theatre of the Maharaja of Udaipur

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1991-11-10

Jag Mandir is a quiet and often overlooked film in the vast oeuvre of Werner Herzog. Apparently,...

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Tattoo Uprising

as Self
Released: 2019-07-12

An examination of the artistic and historical roots of today's tattoo explosion.

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Portrait: Werner Herzog

as Self
Released: 1986-03-27

An autobiographical short film by Werner Herzog made in 1986. Herzog tells stories about his...

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Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers

as Self - Film Director: Nosferatu
Released: 1980-10-12

A zesty paean of praise to the greater glories of garlic. This lip-smacking foray into the...

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Meteor: Sohrab Shahid Saless

as Self
Released: 2021-02-12

Meteor: Sohrab Shahid Saless by Mahmoud Behraznia is a documentary with a different perspective...

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Bride of the Orient

as Businger
Released: 1989-03-02

After the death of his mother, a lonely farmer in rural Switzerland considers finally starting a...

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The Man Who Killed John Wayne

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2017-01-20

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Klaus Kinski: I'm not an actor

as Self
Released: 2000-05-21

Klaus Kinski is one of the few German actors who has achieved international fame. He made...

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Hans Zimmer: The Sound of Hollywood

as Self
Released: 2011-03-14

Documentary about Hans Zimmer.

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The 100 Greatest Films

as Self
Released: 2001-11-24

A countdown of the 100 greatest films, as voted by the British public via the Channel 4 website.

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The Extravagant Little Life of Jean-Claude D. Dreyfus

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2021-09-25

Self-taught magician, transformist at the Grande Eugène cabaret, man of theater, television and...

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Dear Werner (Walking on Cinema)

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2020-11-20

In 1974 Werner Herzog walked from Munich to Paris, an act of faith to prevent the 
death of his...

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Man of Flowers

as The Father
Released: 1983-09-22

An eccentric elderly man tries to enjoy the three things in life that he considers real beauty:...

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Die Erben von Papas Kino

as uncredited
Released: 1968-06-30

Documentary by Wilhelm Roth about the state of affairs of the Young German Cinema.

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I, I, I José Lewgoy

as Self
Released: 2011-11-25

Documentary discussing the life and work of José Lewgoy, one of the most important Brazilian...

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The Transformation of the World Into Music

as Self
Released: 1996-07-21

This film was prepared as a introduction to a series of opera broadcasts on German television....

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The Making of 'Nosferatu'

as Self
Released: 1979-10-06

Werner Herzog discusses the making of "Nosferatu" on set.

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Jihad in Hollywood

as Self
Released: 2016-01-01

Once a successful Syrian actor, Jihad Abdo is now struggling as a refugee while trying to...

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Signs of Vigorous Life: The New German Cinema

as Self
Released: 1976-12-02

BBC documentary about the rise of the New German Cinema and several of its most important figures.

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BLAST!

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2008-04-22

With extraordinary access, BLAST exposes a world of risky, hardcore, scientific adventure. The...

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Film Beyond Cinema: The Dumpster Kid Experiment and Other Utopias

as Self
Released: 2018-02-17

For over half a century, the filmmaker Edgar Reitz, one of the signatories of the Oberhausen...

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Lost in the Garden of the World

as Self
Released: 1975-06-02

Cannes is the town in France where Bergman meets bikinis, and the art of filmmaking meets the...

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Tegoyo

as Self (Voice)
Released: 2022-10-06

In 1968 legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog shot in the island of Lanzarote his film Even Dwarfs...

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Wodaabe: Herdsmen of the Sun

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1989-06-12

Herzog's documentary of the Wodaabe people of the Sahara/Sahel region. Particular attention is...

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All In This Tea

as uncredited
Released: 2007-04-14

During the 1990s, David Lee Hoffman searched throughout China for the finest teas. He's a...

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Neuer Deutscher Film Report

as uncredited
Released: 1967-01-01

Interview film with the protagonists of the New German Cinema in 1966.

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Stardust Stricken: Mohsen Makhmalbaf, A Portrait

as Self
Released: 1996-10-19

Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf claims to have never seen a movie before making his first film....

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The Boxing Prince

as Self
Released: 2002-01-24

The documentary tells the life story of the boxer Norbert Grupe, who was known by his fighting...

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Tales of the Dumpster Kid

as Hurenmörder
Released: 1971-04-02

The Dumpster Kid is an artistic creation: in every story society forces her to learn something....

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The South Bank Show: Werner Herzog

as Self
Released: 1982-05-16

Made around the time of Fitzcarraldo's release, this documentary follows Werner Herzog on a...

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The Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 3

as Self (voice) ("Dribble" short)
Released: 2004-08-31

In this third volume of the Best of Tromadance, viewers can sample fifteen of the best films...

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To the End of the World... and Then a Little Bit Further

as Self
Released: 1989-02-13

A documentation about Werner Herzog's motif to do movies.

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Film Lesson

as Self
Released: 1991-12-20

Werner Herzog interviews guests on the art of filmmaking.

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Paradox Bullets

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2018-10-07

A short film which debuted in a secret location in London to coincide with the release of the...

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The Andinist

as The Painter (Narrator)
Released: 2020-11-25

An old painter recounts the story of when he met a strange mountain climber, or perhaps, an...

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I'm a Soldier

as Self
Released: 2018-08-10

Werner Herzog visited Beijing.

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The Ball Is a Scumbag

as Self
Released: 2000-01-01

"Sometimes the ball is bewitched," says legendary soccer coach Rudi Gutendorf. He's the one who...

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Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1995-06-06

Works, legend and murders of Carlo Gesualdo, a notorious Italian composer and murderer from 16th...

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Jihad in Hollywood

as Self
Released: 2019-04-01

Once a successful Syrian actor, Jihad Abdo is now struggling as a refugee while trying to...

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Bierbichler

as Self
Released: 2008-03-13

Documentary about actor Josef Bierbichler.

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On Borrowed Time

as Self
Released: 2011-11-04

Auteur filmmaker Paul Cox contemplates his own mortality and his life's work as he wits for a...

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Burning Heart

as uncredited
Released: 1995-01-25

Follows the life of the famous German politician, writer, and communist activist, Gustav Regler,...

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The Killers: Unstaged

as Self
Released: 2012-09-18

Following the band The Killers on road to and on stage in the Bronx, New York, in a series of...

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Strawberryland

as Turnlehrer
Released: 2002-11-02

A reconstruction, the replica of a complex emotional world made of desire and aggression: a teen...

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Hannelore Elsner: More Than One Life

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2021-04-25

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Mistaken for Strangers

as Self (uncredited)
Released: 2013-09-19

Mistaken for Strangers follows The National on its biggest tour to date. Newbie roadie Tom (lead...

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American Dad!

as Werner Herzog (voice)
First aired: 2005-02-06

The series focuses on an eccentric motley crew that is the Smith family and their three...

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The Simpsons

as Walter Hotenhoffer (voice)
First aired: 1989-12-17

Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday...

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The Simpsons

as Werner Herzog (voice)
First aired: 1989-12-17

Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday...

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The Simpsons

as Dr. Lund (voice)
First aired: 1989-12-17

Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday...

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Late Night with Seth Meyers

as Self
First aired: 2014-02-25

Seth Meyers, who is "Saturday Night Live’s" longest serving anchor on the show’s wildly popular...

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The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

as Self
First aired: 2015-09-08

Stephen Colbert brings his signature satire and comedy to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,...

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Rick and Morty

as Shrimply Pibbles (voice)
First aired: 2013-12-02

Rick is a mentally-unbalanced but scientifically gifted old man who has recently reconnected...

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Die Harald Schmidt Show

as Self
First aired: 1995-12-05

The Harald Schmidt Show is a German late night talk show hosted on Sky Deutschland by comedian...

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The Colbert Report

as uncredited
First aired: 2005-10-17

The Colbert Report is an American satirical late night television program that airs Monday...

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Parks and Recreation

as Keg Jennings
First aired: 2009-04-09

In an attempt to beautify her town — and advance her career — Leslie Knope, a mid-level...

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The Mandalorian

as The Client
First aired: 2019-11-12

After the fall of the Galactic Empire, lawlessness has spread throughout the galaxy. A lone...

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Midi Première

as Self
First aired: 1975-01-06

Midi Première is a French variety show presented by Danièle Gilbert, directed by Jacques Pierre...

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Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter

as Self
First aired: 2015-08-02

Some of this year's most talked about talent open up about the challenges and triumphs of...

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Spécial cinéma

as Self
First aired: 1974-09-25

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The Henry Rollins Show

as uncredited
First aired: 2006-04-01

The Henry Rollins Show was a weekly talk show hosted by Henry Rollins on the Independent Film...

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Disney Gallery / Star Wars: The Mandalorian

as Self - The Client
First aired: 2020-05-04

Executive producer Jon Favreau invites the cast and crew of The Mandalorian to share an...

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On Death Row

as Werner Herzog
First aired: 2012-03-09

A two part series on an inside look at a maximum security prison in Texas featuring interviews...

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The U.S. and the Holocaust

as Hermann Göring
First aired: 2022-09-18

Inspired in part by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s “Americans and the Holocaust”...

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