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.
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Known For
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans
(2009)
Director
Fitzcarraldo
(1982)
Director
Nosferatu the Vampyre
(1979)
Director
Queen of the Desert
(2015)
Director
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
(1972)
Director
Rescue Dawn
(2006)
Director
Salt and Fire
(2016)
Director
Grizzly Man
(2005)
Director
Stroszek
(1977)
Director
Cobra Verde
(1987)
Director
Family Romance, LLC
(2019)
Director
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done
(2009)
Director
Woyzeck
(1979)
Director
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
(2010)
Director
Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds
(2020)
Director
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
(1974)
Director
Full Filmography
Directing
Herakles
(1962)
Director
The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz
(1967)
Director
Signs of Life
(1968)
Director
Last Words
(1968)
Director
Precautions Against Fanatics
(1969)
Director
The Flying Doctors of East Africa
(1970)
Director
Even Dwarfs Started Small
(1970)
Director
Fata Morgana
(1971)
Director
Land of Silence and Darkness
(1971)
Director
Handicapped Future
(1971)
Director
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
(1972)
Director
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
(1974)
Director
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner
(1974)
Director
Heart of Glass
(1976)
Director
How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck
(1976)
Director
No One Will Play with Me
(1976)
Director
Stroszek
(1977)
Director
La Soufrière: Waiting for an Inevitable Catastrophe
(1977)
Director
The Making of 'Nosferatu'
(1979)
Director
Nosferatu the Vampyre
(1979)
Director
Woyzeck
(1979)
Director
God's Angry Man
(1981)
Director
Fitzcarraldo
(1982)
Director
Huie's Sermon
(1983)
Director
Where the Green Ants Dream
(1984)
Director
Ballad of the Little Soldier
(1984)
Director
The Dark Glow of the Mountain
(1985)
Director
Portrait: Werner Herzog
(1986)
Director
Cobra Verde
(1987)
Director
The French as Seen by…
(1988)
Director
The Gauls
(1988)
Director
Wodaabe: Herdsmen of the Sun
(1989)
Director
Giovanna d'Arco
(1989)
Director
Echoes from a Sombre Empire
(1990)
Director
Film Lesson
(1991)
Director
Jag Mandir: The Eccentric Private Theatre of the Maharaja of Udaipur
(1991)
Director
Scream of Stone
(1991)
Director
Lessons of Darkness
(1992)
Director
Bells from the Deep
(1993)
Director
Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices
(1995)
Director
The Transformation of the World Into Music
(1996)
Director
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
(1997)
Director
My Best Fiend
(1999)
Director
Wings of Hope
(2000)
Director
Tannhäuser
(2000)
Stage Director
Pilgrimage
(2001)
Director
Invincible
(2001)
Director
Ten Thousand Years Older
(2002)
Director
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet
(2002)
Director
Wheel of Time
(2003)
Director
The White Diamond
(2004)
Director
Grizzly Man
(2005)
Director
The Wild Blue Yonder
(2005)
Director
Rescue Dawn
(2006)
Director
Encounters at the End of the World
(2007)
Director
Lohengrin: Bayreuth Festival Opera
(2008)
Stage Director
La Bohème
(2009)
Director
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done
(2009)
Director
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans
(2009)
Director
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
(2010)
Director
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
(2010)
Director
Ode to the Dawn of Man
(2011)
Director
Into the Abyss
(2011)
Director
The Killers: Unstaged
(2012)
Director
From One Second to the Next
(2013)
Director
Queen of the Desert
(2015)
Director
Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World
(2016)
Director
Into the Inferno
(2016)
Director
Salt and Fire
(2016)
Director
Family Romance, LLC
(2019)
Director
Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin
(2019)
Director
Meeting Gorbachev
(2019)
Director
Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds
(2020)
Director
Theatre of Thought
(2022)
Director
The Fire Within: Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft
(2024)
Director
Acting
Neuer Deutscher Film Report
(1967)
Signs of Life
(1968)
Soldier (uncredited)
Die Erben von Papas Kino
(1968)
Tales of the Dumpster Kid
(1971)
Hurenmörder
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner
(1974)
Self
Lost in the Garden of the World
(1975)
Self
Signs of Vigorous Life: The New German Cinema
(1976)
Self
Heart of Glass
(1976)
Glass Transporter
How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck
(1976)
Self
La Soufrière: Waiting for an Inevitable Catastrophe
(1977)
Narrator (voice)
Journey Through History
(1977)
Self
The Making of 'Nosferatu'
(1979)
Self
Nosferatu the Vampyre
(1979)
Hand and Feet in Box with Rats (uncredited)
I Am My Films: A Portrait of Werner Herzog
(1979)
Self
Scénario de 'Sauve qui peut la vie'
(1979)
Self (archive footage)
Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers
(1980)
Self - Film Director: Nosferatu
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
(1980)
Self
God's Angry Man
(1981)
Narrator (voice)
Room 666
(1982)
Self
The South Bank Show: Werner Herzog
(1982)
Self
Burden of Dreams
(1982)
Self - Filmmaker
Man of Flowers
(1983)
The Father
Ballad of the Little Soldier
(1984)
Self (voice)
Where the Green Ants Dream
(1984)
Lawyer (uncredited)
Tokyo-Ga
(1985)
Self
The Dark Glow of the Mountain
(1985)
Self (voice)
Portrait: Werner Herzog
(1986)
Self
Location Africa
(1987)
Self
The Heart and the Legs
(1989)
Self
To the End of the World... and Then a Little Bit Further
(1989)
Self
Bride of the Orient
(1989)
Businger
Wodaabe: Herdsmen of the Sun
(1989)
Narrator (voice)
Hard to Be a God
(1990)
Mita / Richard
Echoes from a Sombre Empire
(1990)
Self
Russian adventure. Peter Fleischmann is filming "It's not easy to be a god."
(1990)
Self
Film Lesson
(1991)
Self
Scream of Stone
(1991)
TV-Regisseur
Jag Mandir: The Eccentric Private Theatre of the Maharaja of Udaipur
(1991)
Narrator (voice)
SnowwhiteRosered
(1991)
Self
Lessons of Darkness
(1992)
Narrator (voice)
Dangerous Game
(1993)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bells from the Deep
(1993)
Narrator (voice)
Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices
(1995)
Narrator (voice)
Burning Heart
(1995)
Stardust Stricken: Mohsen Makhmalbaf, A Portrait
(1996)
Self
The Transformation of the World Into Music
(1996)
Self
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
(1997)
Narrator (voice)
What Dreams May Come
(1998)
Face
Julien Donkey-Boy
(1999)
Father
A Brief History of Errol Morris
(1999)
Self
In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin
(1999)
Self
My Best Fiend
(1999)
Self
The Last Documentary
(2000)
Self
Klaus Kinski: I'm not an actor
(2000)
Self
Wings of Hope
(2000)
Self
The Ball Is a Scumbag
(2000)
Self
The 100 Greatest Films
(2001)
Self
The Boxing Prince
(2002)
Self
Strawberryland
(2002)
Turnlehrer
Wheel of Time
(2003)
Narrator (voice)
Dribble
(2004)
Self (voice)
Incident at Loch Ness
(2004)
Self
The White Diamond
(2004)
Narrator (voice)
The Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 3
(2004)
Self (voice) ("Dribble" short)
Grizzly Man
(2005)
Self
Q & A with Jana Sevcikova and Werner Herzog
(2005)
Self
Perpetuum Mobile: Voices in the Blue Space
(2005)
Self
Dreams and Burdens
(2005)
Self
In the Edges: The 'Grizzly Man' Session
(2005)
Self
50 Films to See Before You Die
(2006)
Self
Walking to Werner
(2006)
Self (voice)
Making of a True Story: Rescue Dawn
(2007)
Self
Munich (Filmfest) Stories - 25 years of Munich Filmfest
(2007)
Self
Encounters at the End of the World
(2007)
Narrator (voice)
Pierre Rissient: Man of Cinema
(2007)
Self
All In This Tea
(2007)
The Grand
(2007)
The German
BLAST!
(2008)
Narrator (voice)
Capturing Reality
(2008)
Self
Bierbichler
(2008)
Self
40 x 15: The Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight
(2008)
Self
Back to Room 666
(2008)
Self (archive footage)
Mister Lonely
(2008)
Father Umbrillo
Counter Shot: Departure of the Filmmakers
(2008)
Self
Plastic Bag
(2009)
Plastic Bag (voice)
The Lonely
(2009)
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
(2010)
Narrator (voice)
Anyone who dares will take the cold off their horse
(2010)
Self
Werner Herzog Defends Dade
(2010)
Self
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
(2010)
Narrator (voice)
I am My Films, Part 2... 30 Years Later
(2010)
Self
When Herzog Rescued Phoenix
(2010)
Narrator (voice)
Behind the Madness: The Making of My Son, My Son
(2010)
Self
I, I, I José Lewgoy
(2011)
Self
Hans Zimmer: The Sound of Hollywood
(2011)
Self
Champions: A Comic Tale
(2011)
Self
Dubai Winter Diary VI: Light and Reflections
(2011)
Self
Into the Abyss
(2011)
Narrator (voice)
On Borrowed Time
(2011)
Self
Dinotasia
(2012)
Narrator (voice)
Jack Reacher
(2012)
Zec Chelovek
The Killers: Unstaged
(2012)
Self
Close Up
(2012)
Self (archive footage)
10 Questions for Werner Herzog
(2012)
Self
An Appreciation of Les Blank by Werner Herzog
(2013)
Self
Werner Herzog and Errol Morris on 'The Act of Killing'
(2013)
Self
Mistaken for Strangers
(2013)
Self (uncredited)
Jack Reacher: When the Man Comes Around
(2013)
Self
Home from Home – Chronicle of a Vision
(2013)
Alexander von Humboldt
The Unbelievers
(2013)
Self
Alfonso Sansone: Producer by Chance
(2014)
Self (archive footage)
Werner Herzog: On Death Row and Life as a Director
(2014)
Self
Penguins of Madagascar
(2014)
Documentary Filmmaker (voice)
Life Itself
(2014)
Self - Filmmaker
Lemonade War
(2014)
Neighborhood Hero
Freaks of Nature
(2015)
Perfect Being (voice)
Jihad in Hollywood
(2016)
Self
Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World
(2016)
Self
Into the Inferno
(2016)
Narrator (voice)
Salt and Fire
(2016)
Man with One Story (uncredited)
Ballad of a Righteous Merchant
(2017)
Self
The Man Who Killed John Wayne
(2017)
Self (archive footage)
I'm a Soldier
(2018)
Self
Paradox Bullets
(2018)
Narrator (voice)
Film Beyond Cinema: The Dumpster Kid Experiment and Other Utopias
(2018)
Self
Manaslu: Mountain of Souls
(2018)
Self
The Great Buster: A Celebration
(2018)
Self
Tattoo Uprising
(2019)
Self
Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin
(2019)
Self - Interviewer and Narrator (voice)
Meeting Gorbachev
(2019)
Self
90 Years of the Music Box Theatre
(2019)
Self
Jihad in Hollywood
(2019)
Self
Dear Werner (Walking on Cinema)
(2020)
Narrator (voice)
Wim Wenders, Desperado
(2020)
Self
The Andinist
(2020)
The Painter (Narrator)
A Life for Movies: Lotte Eisner
(2020)
Self
AGFA Mystery Mixtape #2: Later in L.A.
(2020)
Self
Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds
(2020)
Self - Narrator (voice)
Meteor: Sohrab Shahid Saless
(2021)
Self
The Extravagant Little Life of Jean-Claude D. Dreyfus
(2021)
Self (archive footage)
Falling - Q&A
(2021)
Self - Host
Hannelore Elsner: More Than One Life
(2021)
Self (archive footage)
Tegoyo
(2022)
Self (Voice)
Last Exit: Space
(2022)
Narrator (voice)
Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer
(2022)
Self
Nosferatu: A Film Like a Vampire
(2022)
Self (archive footage)
The Arc of Oblivion
(2023)
Narrator (voice)
The Fire Within: Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft
(2024)
Narrator (voice)
Orion and the Dark
(2024)
Narrator (voice)
Celebrating the Rice Media Center
(2024)
Self (archival footage)
Writing
Herakles
(1962)
Screenplay
The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz
(1967)
Screenplay
Signs of Life
(1968)
Writer
Last Words
(1968)
Screenplay
Precautions Against Fanatics
(1969)
Writer
The Flying Doctors of East Africa
(1970)
Writer
Even Dwarfs Started Small
(1970)
Screenplay
Land of Silence and Darkness
(1971)
Screenplay
Handicapped Future
(1971)
Writer
Fata Morgana
(1971)
Screenplay
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
(1972)
Writer
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
(1974)
Screenplay
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner
(1974)
Screenplay
Heart of Glass
(1976)
Writer
No One Will Play with Me
(1976)
Writer
Stroszek
(1977)
Screenplay
Nosferatu the Vampyre
(1979)
Writer
Woyzeck
(1979)
Screenplay
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
(1980)
Writer
God's Angry Man
(1981)
Writer
Fitzcarraldo
(1982)
Screenplay
Where the Green Ants Dream
(1984)
Writer
Ballad of the Little Soldier
(1984)
Writer
The Dark Glow of the Mountain
(1985)
Writer
Portrait: Werner Herzog
(1986)
Writer
Cobra Verde
(1987)
Screenplay
Wodaabe: Herdsmen of the Sun
(1989)
Writer
Echoes from a Sombre Empire
(1990)
Writer
Jag Mandir: The Eccentric Private Theatre of the Maharaja of Udaipur
(1991)
Screenplay
Lessons of Darkness
(1992)
Writer
Bells from the Deep
(1993)
Writer
Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices
(1995)
Writer
The Transformation of the World Into Music
(1996)
Writer
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
(1997)
Writer
My Best Fiend
(1999)
Writer
Wings of Hope
(2000)
Writer
Invincible
(2001)
Writer
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet
(2002)
Writer
Wheel of Time
(2003)
Writer
The White Diamond
(2004)
Screenplay
The Wild Blue Yonder
(2005)
Screenplay
Grizzly Man
(2005)
Screenplay
Rescue Dawn
(2006)
Author
Encounters at the End of the World
(2007)
Writer
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done
(2009)
Screenplay
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
(2010)
Writer
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
(2010)
Screenplay
Into the Abyss
(2011)
Writer
Queen of the Desert
(2015)
Writer
Salt and Fire
(2016)
Writer
Into the Inferno
(2016)
Writer
Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World
(2016)
Writer
Meeting Gorbachev
(2019)
Writer
Family Romance, LLC
(2019)
Writer
Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin
(2019)
Writer
Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds
(2020)
Writer
Theatre of Thought
(2022)
Screenplay
The Fire Within: Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft
(2024)
Writer
Production
Herakles
(1962)
Producer
Signs of Life
(1968)
Producer
Last Words
(1968)
Producer
Precautions Against Fanatics
(1969)
Producer
Even Dwarfs Started Small
(1970)
Producer
Handicapped Future
(1971)
Producer
Land of Silence and Darkness
(1971)
Producer
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
(1972)
Producer
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
(1974)
Producer
Heart of Glass
(1976)
Producer
How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck
(1976)
Producer
La Soufrière: Waiting for an Inevitable Catastrophe
(1977)
Producer
Nosferatu the Vampyre
(1979)
Producer
Fitzcarraldo
(1982)
Producer
Where the Green Ants Dream
(1984)
Producer
Ballad of the Little Soldier
(1984)
Producer
The Dark Glow of the Mountain
(1985)
Producer
Location Africa
(1987)
Producer
Echoes from a Sombre Empire
(1990)
Producer
Jag Mandir: The Eccentric Private Theatre of the Maharaja of Udaipur
(1991)
Producer
Lessons of Darkness
(1992)
Executive Producer
Invincible
(2001)
Producer
Wheel of Time
(2003)
Producer
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
(2010)
Executive Producer
Into the Abyss
(2011)
Producer
The Act of Killing
(2012)
Executive Producer
Red Army
(2014)
Executive Producer
The Look of Silence
(2015)
Executive Producer
Salt and Fire
(2016)
Producer
Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World
(2016)
Producer
A Gray State
(2017)
Executive Producer
The whole world is country
(2018)
Consulting Producer
Love Birds
(2019)
Consulting Producer
Theatre of Thought
(2022)
Executive Producer
Last Exit: Space
(2022)
Executive Producer
Flores del precipicio
(2022)
Producer
El Poso
(2022)
Producer
The Arc of Oblivion
(2023)
Executive Producer
Sound
Herakles
(1962)
Sound
Precautions Against Fanatics
(1969)
Sound
The Flying Doctors of East Africa
(1970)
Sound Recordist
La Soufrière: Waiting for an Inevitable Catastrophe
(1977)
Sound Engineer
Encounters at the End of the World
(2007)
Sound
Ode to the Dawn of Man
(2011)
Sound
Editing
Herakles
(1962)
Editor
The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz
(1967)
Editor
Wheel of Time
(2003)
Editor
Crew
Handicapped Future
(1971)
Sound Recordist
Land of Silence and Darkness
(1971)
Sound Recordist
What Is It?
(2005)
Thanks
The Devil's Muse
(2007)
Creative Consultant
A Night Out
(2010)
Technical Advisor and Thanks
Ode to the Dawn of Man
(2011)
Cinematography
The Blimp-Maker
(2016)
Thanks
The Empty Goal
(2018)
Thanks
Notes from a Dromedary
(2022)
Creative Consultant
Camera