{"id":148523,"date":"2022-11-11T12:47:44","date_gmt":"2022-11-11T07:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/radical-dreamer-director-on-how-he-persuaded-werner-herzog-to-be-the-subject-of-his-documentary\/"},"modified":"2022-11-11T12:50:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-11T07:20:00","slug":"director-of-radical-dreamer-on-how-he-persuaded-werner-herzog-into-being-the-subject-of-his-documentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/director-of-radical-dreamer-on-how-he-persuaded-werner-herzog-into-being-the-subject-of-his-documentary\/","title":{"rendered":"Director of “Radical Dreamer” on How He Persuaded Werner Herzog into Being the Subject of His Documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\tThomas von Steinaecker first reached out to Werner Herzog in 2020 about making a documentary surveying the prolific director\u2019s career. Von Steinaecker\u2019s peers told him that he would never hear back from Herzog. Afterall Herzog had never met von Steinaecker. This was almost two years ago. Von Steinaecker was then completing the task. \u201cWerner Herzog: Radical Dreamer.\u201d The 103-minute feature documentary chronicles not just Herzog\u2019s 60-year career, but also explores what makes Herzog tick as a filmmaker and as a human being.<\/p>\n

\nGerman-born von Steinaecker discovered Herzog while in his early teens. \u201cAguirre, the Wrath of God.\u201dVon Steinaecker was a member of the American Society for Engineering and Technology (ASET) from that moment forward. \u201cfascinated\u201dWith the director.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEverything about (\u2018Aguirre, the Wrath of God\u2019) was shockingly different and strange,\u201dHe said. \u201cThe music, Klaus Kinski, the story and, last but not least, the documentary-style camera. The fact that such a film had been made in \u2013 from a cinematic point of view \u2013 boring Germany, was incredible to me. I had never seen anything like it before. I was shocked, even traumatized.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLater in life, von Steinaecker was inspired by Herzog\u2019s documentaries, which include \u201cGrizzly Man\u201dAnd \u201cEncounters at the End of the World,\u201dAs well as his books. \u201cOf Walking in Ice\u201dAnd \u201cConquest of the Useless.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBoth (books) left a lasting impression on me as a writer and have no equal in German literary history,\u201d von Steinaecker says.<\/p>\n

\nIn \u201cWerner Herzog: Radical Dreamer\u201d von Steinaecker interviews actors and directors including Chlo\u00e9 Zhao, Joshua Oppenheimer, Wim Wenders, Nicole Kidman, Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson about what makes Werner Werner. Interviews with Herzog, Lena, and other family members are also featured in the film. Combining interviews with Herzog and his wife Lena, as well as archival footage of Herzog at his work, the film shows a man who never stopped following his dreams.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWerner Herzog: Radical Dreamer,\u201d which is part of IDFA\u2019s Best of Fest section, made its worldwide debut at the Telluride Film Festival in September. Variety spoke with von Steinaecker to discuss film financing, getting interviews, and what he hopes viewers take away from his documentary.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tThomas von Steinaecker with Werner Herzog, Lanzarote \u201cRadical Dreamer\u201d<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohanna Jannsen, 3B Produktion<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tBefore making this documentary, you didn\u2019t know Werner Herzog. How did you convince Werner that you were the right man to make a film about his life?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWerner\u2019s gatekeeper is his brother Lucki Stipetic and I got along well with him when I reached out about the idea. Lucki was a friend and I trusted him. He agreed that the vision I had for the movie was one he could trust. \u2018Let\u2019s give it a try.\u2019 Normally I would have flown out to Los Angeles to meet Werner, but COVID prevented that from happening. Instead of flying out to Los Angeles, COVID prevented me from doing so. I instead sent Werner a letter and two novels. After that we talked over Skype and I was extremely nervous because I thought of Werner as this scary person but after 10 seconds we formed this deep connection somehow, and we didn\u2019t talk about the film at all.<\/p>\n

\n\tHerzog has made many films. How did you choose to concentrate on a few? \u201cAguirre, The Wrath of God\u201d(1972) \u201cFitzcarraldo\u201d (1982)?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nAlthough it sounds impossible, it was clear to me which films needed to be included in the documentary. \u201cFitzcarraldo\u201dIt is a film that Werner and film history will never forget. That was also a turning point in Werner\u2019s career, so, it was always clear that that film would play a main role in my doc. \u201cAguirre\u201dIt was the first collaboration between Klaus Kinski and Werner. Most people in Germany stopped watching Werner\u2019s films after \u201cFitzcarraldo,\u201dThis documentary was the opportunity to show German audiences there is more to the seventies-eighties greats. These documentaries were also very popular in the United States.<\/p>\n

\n\tIs it? \u201cRadical Dreamer\u201dA biodoc?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tNo. Werner\u2019s private life doesn\u2019t play a role in the film, and there is not much analysis of his films. This project should be like a ballad telling a story. I wanted to create a poetic atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow did you finance this doc?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nThe German state funded half of the budget, while Wavelength and Wavelength were the majority of the investors.<\/p>\n

\n\tDid you ever feel that you wanted to create this doc in order to learn from Werner’s?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI wouldn\u2019t say that because my way of making films is totally different from Werner. But of course, he\u2019s a master of filmmaking and there\u2019s so much to learn from him. He was impressed when I showed him the rough draft of the film. It was my idea. \u2018Let\u2019Let’s see it again. I have some comments.\u2019 They weren\u2019t structural comments, it was more cutting out two seconds or prolonging an image for two seconds. These suggestions made a huge difference.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou were also shooting \u201cRadical Dreamer,\u201d Werner didn\u2019t tell you which camera lens to use or what questions to ask him?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tNo. Never. He didn\u2019t want to interfere. That was our agreement because I knew that I wouldn\u2019t be able to work like that. It was difficult enough to film a documentary about one the greatest filmmakers ever. It was difficult to let go of my ego and focus on Werner’s story and our connection.<\/p>\n

\n\tRobert Pattinson, Nicole Kidman, and Robert Pattinson collaborated with Werner \u201cQueen of the Desert\u201d (2015) and Christian Bale worked with him on his 2006 film \u201cRescue Dawn.\u201c<\/strong>How was it to secure interviews with them for this documentary?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt was surreal because I didn\u2019t think that people like Kidman, Bale or Pattinson would agree on giving an interview. They are so well-known. They are so famous. It tells you a lot more about Werner Herzog’s importance and impact on people because they all agreed immediately.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou wonder what viewers will discuss after viewing this docu.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nWerner will be an inspiration to them, I believe. Werner is a man who didn’t give up on his dreams and visions, and his story ended with a happy ending despite all odds. How likely is it that a Bavarian boy becomes an icon and star of Hollywood?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thomas von Steinaecker first reached out to Werner Herzog in 2020 about making a documentary surveying the prolific director\u2019s career. Von Steinaecker\u2019s peers told him that he would never hear back from Herzog. Afterall Herzog had never met von Steinaecker. This was almost two years ago. Von Steinaecker was then completing the task. \u201cWerner Herzog: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":148524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101,3,105,106],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/1668151067_Radical-Dreamer-Director-on-How-He-Persuaded-Werner-Herzog-to.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148523"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148523"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148525,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148523\/revisions\/148525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}