By Travis Johnson
A Facebook post from outback screen specialists Alice Springs Film and Television has revealed that acclaimed director Werner Herzog (Fitzcarraldo, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Grizzly Man, Aguirre the Wrath of God, etc etc) has been working on something out in the back blocks. What that something might actually be, however, remains obscure.
https://www.facebook.com/alicespringsfilmtv/photos/rpp.367625016768396/903363056527920/?type=3&theater
It turns out the Alice Springs F&TV had previously made a post about working with Herzog a week prior, and had announced their gig with Herzog back on July 22, quietly flying under the radar of the Australian film community at large (the company’s Facebook footprint is under 1000 followers).
https://www.facebook.com/alicespringsfilmtv/photos/a.367766080087623/896015020596057/?type=3&theater
Which raises the obvious question: what is old mate Werner working on? Herzog has previously filmed in Australia, most notably his 1984 feature Where the Green Ants Dream, but a scout around the Teutonic filmmaker’s online presence reveals nothing on the cards with an obviously Australian connection. His next documentary, Meeting Gorbachev, is screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Herzog will speak about its creation, while his next announced feature, Fordlandia, deals with industrialist Henry Ford’s attempts to build a factory town in the Brazilian rainforest.
Of course, a creator of Herzog’s considerable power can draw all kinds of connections between places, subjects, and themes – consider the albino crocodiles of Cave of Forgotten Dreams – so it’s not beyond the pale that a portrait of the former Soviet leader or a meditation on the hubris of unchecked capitalism might, in Herzog’s mind, require some outback vistas, but the possibilities are endless. Let the wild speculation begin.
We have reached out to Alice Springs Film and Television for comment.
UPDATE:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10212237156264916&set=pcb.10212237157424945&type=3&theater
In a post on Facebook, writer and academic Glenn Morrison revealed that Herzog had interviewed him about the life and career of British travel writer Bruce Chatwin. Chatwin, who frequently wrote about various nomadic cultures around the world, published the book The Songlines in 1987, a look at the importance of music in Aboriginal society not only as a cultural force but as a tool of exploration and survival.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10212237157104937&set=pcb.10212237157424945&type=3&theater
Herzog and Chatwin have intersected before – the 1987 film Cobra Verde, Herzog’s final collaboration with brutal muse Klaus Kinski, was based on Chatwin’s novel The Viceroy of Ouidah. For his part, Chatwin visited Herzog on set and recounted his experiences in the March 1988 issue of Interview. Now, 30 years later, it seems that Herzog is , in some way, returning the favour – although in what exact form we cannot say.
And, finally, a reader has pointed us to the actual project: “Nomad – In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin”, which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, before screening on the BBC.
