4 Shorts by Werner Herzog

A compilation of four short documentary films by Werner Herzog, dubbed one of the most eccentric characters in New German Cinema. “How much would a woodchuck chuck”: An offbeat documentary on the annual World Championship of Livestock Auctioneers in the Amish region of Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County. “Woodchuck” includes a series of hilarious interviews showing the complex tongue-twisters, breathing exercises and secret signals used by the contestants. “La Soufriere”: A record of an ardent and unfulfilled journey to the island of Guadaloupe by the director and two cameramen, to see the eruption of volcano La Soufriere. Once there, they find the population has fled before poisonous gas emissions and tremors, save for three men who have stayed to await their impending deaths. The volcano subsides and Herzog withdraws unrequited. “The Great ecstacy of Woodcarver Steiner”: This film studies Walter Steiner, a woodcarver and one of the leading championship ski jumpers in the world. Herzog follows Steiner’s preparation for the Championships in Yugoslavia, setting up cameras on giant ramps to slow down the action by twenty times. “The Flying doctors of East Africa”: An absorbing documentary on the work of an independent group of physicians in remote areas of East Africa.