--- name: "Werner Herzog" canonical: "https://film.one/person/werner-herzog" fi1m_id: "werner-herzog" imdb_id: "nm0001348" tmdb_id: 6818 wikidata_id: "Q44131" roles: ["Director","Producer","Writer"] born: "5 September 1942" reviewed_on_fi1m: 10 average_fi1m_score: 84 average_as: "director" average_over: 5 updated: "2026-10-05T13:21:30.928076+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Werner Herzog ## Identity Werner Herzog - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/werner-herzog - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** werner-herzog - **IMDb ID:** nm0001348 - **TMDB ID:** 6818 - **Wikidata ID:** Q44131 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Herzog, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q44131, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001348/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6818 Director and producer. Born 5 September 1942 in Munich, Allemagne. ## Details - **Work:** Director, Producer, Writer - **Born:** 5 September 1942, Munich, Allemagne - **Active:** 1972–2019 - **Also known as:** 韋納荷索, Werner Herzog Stipetić, Вернер Херцог, 베르네 헤어조크, ورنر هرتزوگ, 沃纳·赫尔佐格, Werner Stipetić - **Titles on Fi1m:** 10: 3 acting, 5 directing, 2 producing - **Frequently works with:** [Erik Nelson](https://film.one/person/erik-nelson.md), [Klaus Kinski](https://film.one/person/klaus-kinski.md) - **Venice Film Festival:** 1 Venice prize (1 won) - **Average Fi1m score:** 84, as director, over 5 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 86 (2), 1980s 82 (1), 2000s 85 (1), 2010s 78 (6) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 84 to 83 across 4 titles - **Score spread:** 5 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 2 of 2 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 3, Adventure 2, Documentary 2, History 1 - **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $11m across 3 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Herzog, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q44131, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001348/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6818 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Grizzly Man*](https://film.one/film/grizzly-man.md) (85), [*Fitzcarraldo*](https://film.one/film/fitzcarraldo.md) (82), [*Stroszek*](https://film.one/film/stroszek.md) (82) - **Disney+:** [*Rick and Morty*](https://film.one/tv/rick-and-morty.md) (78), [*The Mandalorian*](https://film.one/tv/the-mandalorian.md) (76) - **The Roku Channel:** [*Aguirre, the Wrath of God*](https://film.one/film/aguirre-the-wrath-of-god.md) (91) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Werner Herzog > Werner Herzog makes absorbing films about obsessive people in inhospitable places. We value his willingness to take their efforts seriously, though his narration can press a point long after the people on screen have given us enough to consider. In *Grizzly Man* (2005), Timothy Treadwell’s footage lets us look at bears while Werner Herzog’s narration disputes the beliefs of the man filming them. Herzog respects the effort involved, and gives the animals time to interest us without an explanation. We were moved by Treadwell’s attachment to the bears because his images let us understand the attraction of being there. This is Herzog worth seeking out: attentive to someone he disagrees with, and willing to let us see why that person might disagree with him. His earlier fiction often made obsession physically demanding to film. *Aguirre, the Wrath of God* (1972) took him into the Amazon under extreme conditions. For *Fitzcarraldo* (1982), a steamship was hauled over a mountain. Klaus Kinski was a recurring collaborator, their work together extending into horror with *Nosferatu the Vampyre* (1979). In the documentary work, *Grizzly Man* brings that fascination with obsessive people to a subject who has already made images of his own. Herzog’s collaborators help make room for that other account. Peter Zeitlinger is credited with cinematography on *Grizzly Man*, but Treadwell supplies the bear footage that holds us most firmly. Editor Joe Bini moves between those recordings, interviews and commentary so that nobody gets to settle the matter unchallenged. Richard Thompson’s reflective music gives us time with Treadwell as a person, away from the narrator’s corrections. The film benefits from having more than one way of looking at him. Herzog’s confidence does occasionally become a nuisance. His bleak view of nature is clear enough without the repeated insistence, and there are passages when we want him to stop talking and leave the footage alone. Treadwell’s sentimentality does not make Herzog’s account convincing by default. The film remains unusually fair because it gives us the material to question its director, even when he sounds as though the discussion is over. For all our objections, *Grizzly Man* is funny, disturbing and unusually fair to its subject. Herzog’s respect for Treadwell’s work survives their disagreement, which is reason enough to spend an evening with them. Start there, without feeling obliged to accept everything the narrator says. ## Biography Werner Herzog is a German film director, screenwriter, producer and documentarian. Born Werner Stipetić on 5 September 1942 in Munich, he made his first short film, *Herakles*, in 1961 while still a teenager. He is known for feature films including *Aguirre, the Wrath of God* (1972), *The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser* (1974), *Nosferatu the Vampyre* (1979) and *Fitzcarraldo* (1982), as well as documentaries such as *Grizzly Man* (2005), on which he also appeared as narrator, *Encounters at the End of the World* (2007) and *Cave of Forgotten Dreams* (2010). He has directed more than sixty films and several operas. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com, wernerherzog.com.* ## On Fi1m (10) ### Performed in (3) - *The Mandalorian* (2019), Fi1m 76, as The Client — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-mandalorian.md) - *Penguins of Madagascar* (2014), Fi1m 58, as Documentary Filmmaker (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/penguins-of-madagascar.md) - *Rick and Morty* (2013), Fi1m 78, as Shrimply Pibbles (voice) — [page](https://film.one/tv/rick-and-morty.md) ### Directed (5) — the average rests on these - *Cave of Forgotten Dreams* (2010), Fi1m 80, as Narrator (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/cave-of-forgotten-dreams.md) - *Grizzly Man* (2005), Fi1m 85, as Self / Narrator (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/grizzly-man.md) - *Fitzcarraldo* (1982), Fi1m 82, Director, Producer, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/fitzcarraldo.md) - *Stroszek* (1977), Fi1m 82, Director, Screenplay, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/stroszek.md) - *Aguirre, the Wrath of God* (1972), Fi1m 91, Producer, Director, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/aguirre-the-wrath-of-god.md) ### Produced (2) - *The Look of Silence* (2014), Fi1m 87, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-look-of-silence.md) - *The Act of Killing* (2012), Fi1m 88, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-act-of-killing.md) ## Complete filmography (146) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Al borde del abismo: la aventura peruana de Werner Herzog* (2026), Actor - *Bucking Fastard* (2026), Writer, Director, Producer - *Ghost Elephants* (2026), Director, Writer, Producer, Screenplay - *Felicidad* (2025), Producer - *Mi casa amarilla* (2025), Consulting Editor - *Sirena* (2025), Actor - *Reeling* (2025), Executive Producer - *Theater of Thought* (2024), Director, Executive Producer, Screenplay - *The End* (2024), Executive Producer - *About a Hero* (2024), Actor - *The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft* (2024), as Narrator (voice) · Director, Writer - *Orion and the Dark* (2024), as Narrator (voice) - *The Arc of Oblivion* (2023), as Narrator (voice) · Executive Producer - *Notes from a Dromedary* (2022), Creative Consultant - *Flores del precipicio* (2022), Producer - *Last Exit: Space* (2022), as Narrator (voice) · Executive Producer - *El Poso* (2022), Producer - *The Andinist* (2020), as The Painter (Narrator) - *Dear Werner (Walking on Cinema)* (2020), as Narrator (voice) - *Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds* (2020), Director, Writer - *AGFA Mystery Mixtape #2: Later in L.A.* (2020), as (archive footage) - *The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault* (2020), as (archive footage) - *The Mandalorian* (2019), series, as The Client — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-mandalorian.md) - *Family Romance, LLC* (2019), Writer, Director, Director of Photography, Camera Operator - *Meeting Gorbachev* (2019), Director, Writer - *Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin* (2019), Director, Writer - *Love Birds* (2019), Consulting Producer - *The Last Scene* (2019), Executive Producer - *Paradox Bullets* (2018), as Narrator (voice) - *The Empty Goal* (2018), Thanks - *The Golden Gate* (2018), Executive Producer - *The whole world is country* (2018), Consulting Producer - *A Gray State* (2017), Executive Producer - *Salt and Fire* (2016), as Man with One Story (uncredited) · Writer, Producer, Director - *Into the Inferno* (2016), Director, Writer - *Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World* (2016), Director, Producer, Writer - *The Blimp-Maker* (2016), Thanks - *Freaks of Nature* (2015), as Perfect Being (voice) - *Queen of the Desert* (2015), Director, Writer - *Red Army* (2015), Executive Producer - *Penguins of Madagascar* (2014), as Documentary Filmmaker (voice) — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/penguins-of-madagascar.md) - *Lemonade War* (2014), as Neighborhood Hero - *The Look of Silence* (2014), Executive Producer — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/the-look-of-silence.md) - *Rick and Morty* (2013), series, as Shrimply Pibbles (voice) — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/rick-and-morty.md) - *Home from Home – Chronicle of a Vision* (2013), as Alexander von Humboldt - *From One Second to the Next* (2013), Director - *The Last Shepherd* (2013), Thanks - *Jack Reacher* (2012), as Zec Chelovek - *Strawberryfields* (2012), as Turnlehrer - *The Act of Killing* (2012), Executive Producer — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/the-act-of-killing.md) - *The Killers: Unstaged* (2012), Director - *Dinotasia* (2012), as Narrator (voice) - *On Death Row* (2012), series, as Werner Herzog · Writer, Director, Creator - *Into the Abyss* (2011), as Narrator (voice) · Writer, Director, Producer - *Ode to the Dawn of Man* (2011), Director, Cinematography, Sound - *Cave of Forgotten Dreams* (2010), as Narrator (voice) · Screenplay, Director — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/cave-of-forgotten-dreams.md) - *When Herzog Rescued Phoenix* (2010), as Narrator (voice) - *Happy People: A Year in the Taiga* (2010), as Narrator (voice) · Executive Producer, Writer, Director - *My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done* (2010), Screenplay, Director - *A Night Out* (2010), Thanks, Technical Advisor - *Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans* (2009), Director - *Plastic Bag* (2009), as Plastic Bag (voice) - *La Bohème* (2009), Director - *The Lonely* (2009), Actor - *Parks and Recreation* (2009), series, as Keg Jennings — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/parks-and-recreation.md) - *BLAST!* (2008), as Narrator (voice) - *Lohengrin: Bayreuth Festival Opera* (2008), Stage Director - *Mister Lonely* (2008), as Father Umbrillo - *Encounters at the End of the World* (2007), as Narrator (voice) · Director, Writer, Sound - *Rescue Dawn* (2007), Director, Author - *The Grand* (2007), as The German - *All In This Tea* (2007), Actor - *The Devil's Muse* (2007), Creative Consultant - *Metalocalypse* (2006), series, Actor - *The Wild Blue Yonder* (2005), Screenplay, Director - *Grizzly Man* (2005), Director — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/grizzly-man.md) - *American Dad!* (2005), series, as Werner Herzog (voice) - *What Is It?* (2005), Thanks - *Incident at Loch Ness* (2004), Producer - *The White Diamond* (2004), as Narrator (voice) · Director, Screenplay - *Wheel of Time* (2003), as Narrator (voice) · Producer, Director, Writer, Editor - *Ten Thousand Years Older* (2002), Director, Screenplay - *Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet* (2002), Writer, Director - *Invincible* (2001), Writer, Director, Producer - *Pilgrimage* (2001), Director - *Tannhäuser* (2000), Stage Director - *2000 Years of Christianity* (1999), series, Director - *Wings of Hope* (1999), Director, Writer - *Julien Donkey-Boy* (1999), as Father - *My Best Fiend* (1999), Writer, Director - *What Dreams May Come* (1998), as Face - *Little Dieter Needs to Fly* (1997), as Narrator (voice) · Director, Writer - *The Transformation of the World Into Music* (1996), Director, Writer, Executive Producer - *Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices* (1995), as Narrator (voice) · Director, Writer, Producer - *Burning Heart* (1995), Actor - *Bells from the Deep* (1993), as Narrator (voice) · Director, Writer - *La Donna del Lago* (1992), Director - *Lessons of Darkness* (1992), Director, Writer, Executive Producer - *Jag Mandir: The Eccentric Private Theatre of the Maharaja of Udaipur* (1991), as Narrator (voice) · Screenplay, Director, Producer - *Scream of Stone* (1991), as TV-Regisseur · Director - *Echoes from a Sombre Empire* (1990), Director, Writer, Producer - *Hard to Be a God* (1990), as Mita / Richard - *The Simpsons* (1989), series, as Walter Hotenhoffer (voice), Werner Herzog (voice), Dr. Lund (voice) — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-simpsons.md) - *Wodaabe: Herdsmen of the Sun* (1989), as Narrator (voice) · Director, Writer, Co-Producer - *Under the Sun* (1989), series, Director - *Bride of the Orient* (1989), as Businger - *Giovanna d'Arco* (1989), Director - *The French as Seen by…* (1988), Director - *The Gauls* (1988), Director - *Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe* (1988), Writer - *Cobra Verde* (1987), Director, Screenplay - *Location Africa* (1987), Producer - *Portrait: Werner Herzog* (1986), Director, Writer - *The Dark Glow of the Mountains* (1985), Director, Producer, Writer - *Ballad of the Little Soldier* (1984), Writer, Director, Producer - *Where the Green Ants Dream* (1984), as Lawyer (uncredited) · Director, Producer, Writer - *Man of Flowers* (1983), as The Father - *God's Angry Man* (1983), as Narrator (voice) · Director, Writer - *Huie's Sermon* (1983), Director - *Fitzcarraldo* (1982), Director, Producer, Screenplay — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/fitzcarraldo.md) - *Woyzeck* (1979), Screenplay, Director - *Nosferatu the Vampyre* (1979), Director, Producer, Writer - *La Soufrière: Waiting for an Inevitable Catastrophe* (1977), as Narrator (voice) · Director, Sound Engineer, Producer - *Stroszek* (1977), Director, Screenplay, Producer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/stroszek.md) - *Heart of Glass* (1976), as Glass Transporter · Writer, Director, Producer - *How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck* (1976), Director, Producer, Sound - *No One Will Play with Me* (1976), Director, Writer - *Tales of the Dumpster Kid* (1974), as Hurenmörder - *The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser* (1974), Producer, Director, Screenplay - *The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner* (1974), Director, Screenplay, Producer - *Aguirre, the Wrath of God* (1972), Producer, Director, Writer — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/aguirre-the-wrath-of-god.md) - *Fata Morgana* (1972), Director, Screenplay, Sound, Producer - *Land of Silence and Darkness* (1971), Screenplay, Director, Producer, Sound Recordist - *Even Dwarfs Started Small* (1971), Producer, Screenplay, Director - *Handicapped Future* (1971), as Interviewer (voice) (uncredited) · Director, Sound Recordist, Producer, Writer, Sound - *The Flying Doctors of East Africa* (1970), Director, Writer, Sound Recordist, Producer - *Precautions Against Fanatics* (1969), Director, Producer, Writer, Sound - *Signs of Life* (1968), as Soldier (uncredited) · Writer, Director, Producer - *Die Erben von Papas Kino* (1968), Actor - *Last Words* (1968), Director, Screenplay, Producer - *The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz* (1967), Director, Editor, Screenplay - *Neuer Deutscher Film Report* (1967), Actor - *Herakles* (1962), Director, Editor, Sound, Screenplay, Producer - *Ally*, as (voice) - *The hunger in the world explained to my son*, Writer - *The Twilight World*, Director, Novel ## Gallery - ![Werner Herzog](https://film.one/media/person/98921/gallery-b5b5719803c3.jpg) Werner Herzog — Nicolas Genin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Werner_Herzog_Venice_Film_Festival_2009.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Rare shot of Herzog on the set of his masterpiece w/ Klaus Kinski. (1972)](https://film.one/media/person/98921/gallery-cfe20fad0582.jpg) Rare shot of Herzog on the set of his masterpiece w/ Klaus Kinski. (1972) — Distributed by New Yorker Films., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Aguirre%2C_the_Wrath_of_God_-_production_photo.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Theatrical release poster for Les Blank's 1982 "making-of" documentary film Burden of Dreams, following German filmmaker Werner Herzog and his cast and crew dee](https://film.one/media/person/98921/gallery-617262c9372b.jpg) Theatrical release poster for Les Blank's 1982 "making-of" documentary film Burden of Dreams, following German filmmaker Werner Herzog and his cast and crew dee — Design and painting by Monte Dolack; poster published and distributed by Blank's Flower Films production company., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Burden_of_Dreams_%281982_poster_-_Monte_Dolack%29.jpg/1280px-Burden_of_Dreams_%281982_poster_-_Monte_Dolack%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Nicolas cage, Eva Mendes and Werner Herzog at the 66th Festival of Venice for the premiere of the film Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call New Orleans (2009)](https://film.one/media/person/98921/gallery-4b73478b53fc.jpg) Nicolas cage, Eva Mendes and Werner Herzog at the 66th Festival of Venice for the premiere of the film Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call New Orleans (2009) — [2], CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Cage_Mendes_Herzog_Venice_Film_Festival_2009.jpg/1280px-Cage_Mendes_Herzog_Venice_Film_Festival_2009.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Werner Herzog](https://film.one/media/person/98921/gallery-8040dcc03149.jpg) Werner Herzog — Image via TMDB - ![Werner Herzog](https://film.one/media/person/98921/gallery-b0daacae7745.jpg) Werner Herzog — Image via TMDB - ![Werner Herzog](https://film.one/media/person/98921/gallery-fab06144f6c8.jpg) Werner Herzog — Image via TMDB - ![Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes and Werner Herzog at the 66th Venice Film Festival (2009)](https://film.one/media/person/98921/gallery-63a84eb89396.jpg) Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes and Werner Herzog at the 66th Venice Film Festival (2009) — Nicolas Genin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Cage_Mendes_Herzog_Venice_Film_Festival_2009_2.jpg/1280px-Cage_Mendes_Herzog_Venice_Film_Festival_2009_2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Claire Simon et Werner Herzog au centre Georges-Pompidou, le 14 décembre 2024.](https://film.one/media/person/98921/gallery-e3cc0392c733.jpg) Claire Simon et Werner Herzog au centre Georges-Pompidou, le 14 décembre 2024. — ManoSolo13241324, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Claire_Simon_et_Werner_Herzog_2024.jpg/1280px-Claire_Simon_et_Werner_Herzog_2024.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Werner Herzog](https://film.one/media/person/98921/gallery-86e20727cece.jpg) Werner Herzog — Image via TMDB - ![Werner Herzog](https://film.one/media/person/98921/gallery-1265431373ef.jpg) Werner Herzog — Image via TMDB - ![Werner Herzog](https://film.one/media/person/98921/gallery-ee2a0845aa9a.jpg) Werner Herzog — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Venice Film Festival — 1 won - 2025: Golden Lion (won) ### Other awards — 5 won, 2 nominated - European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award 2019: European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award (won) - Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 2012: Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (won) - Alfred P. Sloan Prize 2005: Alfred P. Sloan Prize (won), for *Grizzly Man* - Bayerischer Poetentaler 2000: Bayerischer Poetentaler (won) - European Film Award for Best Documentary 1999: European Film Award for Best Documentary (nominated), for *My Best Fiend* - Rauriser Literaturpreis 1979: Rauriser Literaturpreis (won) - César Award for Best Foreign Film 1976: César Award for Best Foreign Film (nominated), for *Aguirre, the Wrath of God* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/werner-herzog