studio Claus Wiersma

Eye Filmmuseum presents an exhibition around the work of celebrated filmmaker Werner Herzog. With an unorthodox oeuvre of more than seventy features, documentaries and shorts, Herzog has fascinated audiences with unforgettable stories, images and characters for more than half a century.
This exhibition features an insight into the way Herzog perceives the world. The ‘ecstatic truth’ – that is central to his work – reflects on Herzog’s fundamental quest, how he constructs and stylises images that expose this deeper level of truth: “I’m modifying facts in such a degree that they resemble truth more than reality.”

In his work, Herzog seeks out those places on our planet that seem most other-worldly. He points his camera at people who live and survive in extreme circumstances – from scientists in Antarctica to child soldiers. The filmmaker feels a great affinity with the dreamers, obsessives, the solitary rebels and the marginalised, who for whatever reasons stray from the well-trodden path. By telling the stories of these exceptional individuals, Herzog at the same time manages to tell bigger stories about human existence.

The space is built up around a selection of key scenes from Herzog’s oeuvre, with iconic images from films such as Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht, Fitzcarraldo, Little Dieter Needs to Fly and Grizzly Man. In addition, documents, archival items and props from the Werner Herzog Archive are on display and introduce his team.
(text: website Eye Filmmuseum)