Ecstasy and truth
Curated by Anomaa Rajakaruna, the Werner Herzog Documentary Film Week
will be held from June 24 to 30 at Goethe-Institut Sri Lanka at 6 pm.
June 26
La Soufrière
A documentary film in which Herzog visits an island on which a
volcano is predicted to erupt.
 The Caribbean island of Guadeloupe was faced with seemingly
unavoidable destruction when La Soufriere, a large and active volcano on
the island, came to life and was expected to explode. Guadeloupe was
quickly evacuated, but one man, an elderly hermit, refused to leave his
tiny campsite near the volcano, and authorities were forced to leave him
behind.
When filmmaker Werner Herzog heard about the lone man who stayed
behind, he was instantly fascinated with his story, and quickly
assembled a small camera crew to journey to Guadeloupe and get his story
before the volcano destroyed the island...
FATA MORGANA
The film is a lurid portrayal of dystopia in the desert.
As such, it reflects Herzog's pessimistic view of man's place in the
universe and how far short this is from whatever romantic dreams that we
may have.
June 27: Last Words
The film tells a story of the last man to leave the abandoned island
of Spinalonga, which had been used as a leper colony. The man refused to
leave, and so was forcibly removed. He now lives in Crete, where he
plays the lyre at nights in a bar, and refuses to speak…
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
A documentary about the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship held
in New Holland, Pennsylvania.
Herzog has said that he believes auctioneering to be “the last poetry
possible, the poetry of capitalism.”
June 28: Wheel of Time
A Documentary about Tibetan Buddhism.
The film documents the two Kalachakra initiations of 2002, presided
over by the fourteenth Dalai Lama.
The first, in Bodhgaya India, was disrupted by the Dalai Lama’s
illness. Later that same year, the event was held again, this time
without disruption, in Graz, Austria...
June 29: 10.30am
Echoes from a Somber Empire
A Documentary about the life of Jean-Bédel Bokassa. South African
journalist Michael Goldsmith presents Jean-Bédel Bokassa, dictator of
the Central African Republic from 1966 to 1979, through eyewitness
testimony.
Having followed Bokassa’s coronation ceremony for his newspaper,
Goldsmith is treated as a spy and is taken prisoner due to an
unfortunate circumstance.
02.30 pm
Wodaabe-Herdsmen of the Sun
The film explores the social rituals and cultural celebrations of the
Saharan nomadic Wodaabe tribe. Particular focus is given to the Gerewol
celebration, which features an elaborate male beauty contest to win
wives.
Bells from the Deep
A documentary investigation of Russian mysticism. In February 1993,
Herzog goes to Siberia to explore the spiritual lives of the Russian
people.
Different forms of shamanism, popular beliefs and superstitions are
shown; a preacher’s speaks about cosmic energy and a healer works only
with holy water. A timeless, poetic character rings church bells as
though they were a musical instrument.
05.15 pm The White Diamond
A documentary which illustrates the history of aviation and depicts
the struggles and triumphs of Graham Dorrington.
Dr. Graham Dorrington is a scientist who specializes in designing
experimental aircraft, and in 1992 he invented a unique man-powered
airship intended to travel into the Amazon canopy of Guyana, with the
goal studying the medicinal herbs said to grow there.
June 30: 10.30am
Land of Silence and Darkness 85’ /1971
In telling the story of Fini Straubinger a deaf-blind German woman,
Herzog investigates the nature of human thought and communication.
Herzog follows Fini Straubinger to numerous events as she visits with
other people in the deaf-blind community, discussing their struggle to
live in the modern world with their disability.
2.30 pm
Wings of Hope
The film explores the story of Juliane Koepcke, a German Peruvian
woman who was the sole survivor of Peruvian flight LANSA Flight 508
following its mid-air disintegration after a lightning strike in 1971.
Herzog was inspired to make this film as he narrowly avoided taking
the same flight while he was location scouting for Aguirre, Wrath of
God. His reservation was canceled due to a last minute change in
itinerary.
Dark Glow of the Mountain
It is about an expedition made by freestyle mountain climber Reinhold
Messner and his partner Hans Kammerlander to climb Gasherbrum II and
Gasherbrum I all in one trip without returning to base camp.
5.15 pm
Wheel of Time
June 28
The Wild Blue Yonder
A science-fiction film by Herzog.
The film is about an extraterrestrial who came to Earth several
decades ago from a water planet (The Wild Blue Yonder), after it
experienced an ice age.
His narration reveals that his race has tried through the years to
form a community on our planet, without any success.
The alien also tells the story of a space mission he found out about
through his job with the CIA. In the late 90s debris from the Roswell
UFO crash was unearthed and examined… |
