Werner Herzog

Filling 138 archival boxes and including around 18,000 photographs (the majority as slides), the archive transferred in 2009 by Lucki Stipetic, head of the Werner Herzog film production company and Herzog’s brother, is one of the most extensive at the Deutsche Kinemathek. It has been repeatedly enriched since then. Materials accompany most of the more than 70 feature films and documentaries in the archive. The main focus is on films produced before 2001. All phases of film production are well-documented: In addition to scripts (some of which also contain notes), shooting schedules, contracts and correspondence, there are a number of props, posters, advertising and festival materials, as well as international press reviews. The quite divergent reception of Herzog’s work to date, both in Germany and abroad, becomes evident in these documents. Numerous production photos offer abundant insights into Herzog’s work on set and his direction of the actors. Correspondence (for instance, related to the Wiesbaden Film Review Board, which refused to issue a rating for ‘Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes’, FRG, 1972), as well as scripts for Herzog’s lectures and manifestoes (including the “Minnesota Declaration: Truth and Fact in Documentary Cinema”, 1999), show the filmmaker to be a quarrelsome advocate for artistic independence, who is also always searching for an “ecstatic truth”. Other papers provide information on Herzog’s theatre and opera productions. Any documents related to legal disputes are subject to a non-negotiability clause. (Text: Kristina Jaspers)