Werner Herzog’s Rogue Film School

Film director Werner Herzog was interviewed on the radio program onpointradio today.

He talks about his new movie The Bad Lieutenant, his book - diary really - about the making of Fitzcarraldo, and mostly just about movie making. The book Conquest of the Useless: Reflections from the Making of Fitzcarraldo is currently available in hardcover:

Originally published in the noted director's native Germany in 2004, Herzog's diary, more prose poetry than journal entries, will appeal even to those unfamiliar with the extravagant 1982 film. From June 1979 to November 1981, Herzog recounted not only the particulars of shooting the difficult film about a fictional rubber baron—which included the famous sequence of a steamer ship being maneuvered over a hill from one river to another—but also the dreamlike quality of life in the Amazon.

Perhaps more interestingly, he’s offering Werner Herzog’s Rogue Film School:

In January 2010, Herzog is offering a series of weekend seminars to select participants. “The Rogue Film School is not for the faint-hearted,” he says, “it is for those who have travelled on foot, who have worked as bouncers in sex clubs or as wardens in a lunatic asylum, for those who are willing to learn about lockpicking or forging shooting permits in countries not favoring their projects. In short: for those who have a sense for poetry. For those who are pilgrims. For those can tell a story to four year old children and hold their attention. For those who have a fire burning within. For those who have a dream.”

It seems to be a three day seminar/workshop, but beyond that, you're on your own. Also, if you wanted to attend you had to submit a DVD that they say Herzog would review. The about section has a series of bullet points, two of which stand out:

• Related, but more practical subjects, will be the art of lockpicking. Traveling on foot. The exhilaration of being shot at unsuccessfully. The athletic side of filmmaking. The creation of your own shooting permits. The neutralization of bureaucracy. Guerrilla tactics. Self reliance.
• Censorship will be enforced. There will be no talk of shamans, of yoga classes, nutritional values, herbal teas, discovering your Boundaries, and Inner Growth.

The first seminar will be held Jan 8-10 2010, and the application deadline is closed, but there’s talk of future seminars, so keep an eye out.