From 2014 on, our ArtHouse Cinema gives even deeper insights into film art. Additionally to the regular film screenings every two weeks, we will present outstanding German filmmakers in a special focus program. What makes the works of these directors so unique? What handwriting marks their films? On two or three evenings, from 6 – 10 p.m. we present a selection of their film works and give further information of author, work and reception.

In this year, the focus lies on the two German filmmakers Fatih Akin and Werner Herzog.

WERNER HERZOG
Werner Herzog is one of the most important directors in Germany. In addition to Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Volker Schlöndorff, Margarethe von Trotta, and Wim Wenders, Herzog is one of the best known representatives of the so-called New German Cinema. His work includes feature films and documentaries.

Since the beginning of his career, Herzog worked internationally and directed both feature films and documentaries. His international breakthrough came with the film Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). The film focuses on the greed of the Spanish conquistadors and was a huge success in France.

Particularly influential for his early film works was the collaboration with the actor Klaus Kinski. Overall Kinski played the main character in five of his films. Herzog dealt with this excessive artist symbiosis and the resulting love-hate relationship in his movie Mein liebster Feind – Klaus Kinski (My Best Fiend – Klaus Kinski) in 1999.

Herzog’s films depict strong visual force. Many of his films are about the struggle of man against nature, of egomaniacal and eccentric personalities. They are life stories of outsiders and misfits who are going to the limits of their existence to realize their dreams.

What is also remarkable about Herzog’s oeuvre is the versatility – both in terms of the topics as well as the productions: it moves between documentary and fiction, between Hollywood productions and low budget cinema.

Herzog has won numerous awards, including among others an award as best director for “Fitzcarraldo” in Cannes and an Oscar nomination for Encounters at the End of the World.