Thomas von Steinaecker first reached out to Werner Herzog in 2020 about making a documentary surveying the prolific director’s career. Von Steinaecker’s peers told him that he would never hear back from Herzog. Afterall Herzog had never met von Steinaecker. That was two years ago. In that time, von Steinaecker completed “Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer.” The 103-minute feature documentary chronicles not just Herzog’s 60-year career, but also explores what makes Herzog tick as a filmmaker and as a human being.
German-born von Steinaecker discovered Herzog in his early teens when he turned on the television and watched “Aguirre, the Wrath of God.” From that moment on, von Steinaecker was “fascinated” with the director.
“Everything about (‘Aguirre, the Wrath of God’) was shockingly different and strange,” he says. “The music, Klaus Kinski, the story and, last but not least, the documentary-style camera. The fact that such a film had been made in – from a cinematic point of view – boring Germany, was incredible to me. I had never seen anything like it before. I was shocked, even traumatized.”
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Later in life, von Steinaecker was inspired by Herzog’s documentaries, which include “Grizzly Man” and “Encounters at the End of the World,” as well as his books, “Of Walking in Ice” and “Conquest of the Useless.”
“Both (books) left a lasting impression on me as a writer and have no equal in German literary history,” von Steinaecker says.
In “Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer” von Steinaecker interviews actors and directors including Chloé Zhao, Joshua Oppenheimer, Wim Wenders, Nicole Kidman, Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson about what makes Werner Werner. The film also features interviews with Herzog, his wife Lena and other family members. The talking heads combined with archival footage of Herzog at work along with stories of his upbringing reveal a man who always followed his dreams and never gave up.
“Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer,” which is part of IDFA’s Best of Fest section, made its worldwide debut at the Telluride Film Festival in September. Variety spoke with von Steinaecker about film financing, securing interviews and what he hopes audiences procure from his docu.
Before making this documentary, you didn’t know Werner Herzog. How did you convince him that you were the right person to make a film about him?
Werner’s gatekeeper is his brother Lucki Stipetic and I got along well with him when I reached out about the idea. I trusted Lucki and he trusted me. The vision I had for the film was something he felt comfortable with, so he said, ‘Let’s give it a try.’ Normally I would have flown out to Los Angeles to meet Werner, but COVID prevented that from happening. So, instead, I sent him a letter and two of my 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’t talk about the film at all.
Herzog has made so many films, how did you decide to focus on only a handful including “Aguirre, The Wrath of God” (1972) and “Fitzcarraldo” (1982)?
It sounds like a mission impossible, but it was pretty clear to me which films had to be in the documentary. “Fitzcarraldo” is such an important film, not only for Werner, but for film history. That was also a turning point in Werner’s career, so, it was always clear that that film would play a main role in my doc. “Aguirre” is the first collaboration between (Klaus) Kinski and Werner, so that had to be in it. Most people in Germany stopped watching Werner’s films after “Fitzcarraldo,” so I knew that this documentary would be the chance to show German audiences that there is more than these great masterpieces from the seventies and eighties. There also are these documentaries, which were very successful in the United States.
Is “Radical Dreamer” a biodoc?
No. Werner’s private life doesn’t play a role in the film, and there is not much analysis of his films. I always thought that this project must be like a ballad that tells a story. I wanted to create this poetic atmosphere.
How did you finance the doc?
Half of the budget came from German state funds and the other half was pretty much American investors like Wavelength.
Was there any part of you that wanted to make this doc so you could learn from Werner?
I wouldn’t say that because my way of making films is totally different from Werner. But of course, he’s a master of filmmaking and there’s so much to learn from him. For example, after showing him a rough cut of the film, which was my idea, he immediately said, ‘Let’s watch it again. I have some comments.’ They weren’t structural comments, it was more cutting out two seconds or prolonging an image for two seconds. Those suggestions made such a big difference.
So while you were shooting “Radical Dreamer,” Werner didn’t tell you which camera lens to use or what questions to ask him?
No. Never. He didn’t want to interfere. That was our agreement because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to work like that. It was intimidating enough to shoot a documentary about one of the greatest filmmakers of all times. But I found that letting go of ego and focusing on the story and my connection with Werner was really the most important thing.
Nicole Kidman and Robert Pattinson worked with Werner on “Queen of the Desert” (2015) and Christian Bale worked with him on his 2006 film “Rescue Dawn.“ What was it like securing interviews with them for this docu?
It was surreal because I didn’t think that people like Kidman, Bale or Pattinson would agree on giving an interview. They are so famous. Why should they give an interview to an unknown German filmmaker for a documentary about Werner Herzog? But it tells you a lot about his importance and his effect on people, because they all agreed instantly.
What do you think viewers will be talking about after watching this docu?
I think they will find inspiration in Werner. He is someone who never gave up and followed his dreams and visions and against all odds his story has a happy ending. I mean, how likely is it that a poor boy from the Bavarian Mountains becomes like this, an icon and star in Hollywood.