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Academy Award winning filmmaker to speak at USF[11.10.2011]
TAMPA, Fla. -- The great German filmmaker Werner Herzog comes to the University of South Florida Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. to show and discuss a new work in progress -- a rare treat for Tampa Bay film lovers.
The event, “An Afternoon with Werner Herzog” is free and open to the public and will be held in USF’s new Interdisciplinary Sciences Building (ISA) on the Tampa campus, Room 1051.
“Mr. Herzog will be in Sarasota teaching a filmmaking workshop at the Ringling College of Art and Design, and we are very fortunate that he is making the time to stop in Tampa to spend time with students and the public here,” said Margit Grieb, associate professor of German in the Department of World Languages. “He said his priority is having the opportunity of sharing his work with students and generously said yes to my request.”
In addition to convincing the filmmaker to come to USF, Grieb was able to enlist the support of the German Consulate in Miami, which is helping to sponsor the visit. German Consulate General Eva Countess Kendeffy will be in attendance.
Moreover, the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., decided to make Herzog's visit part of a campaign called "do Deutsch Campus Weeks" for which German departments at more than 40 universities are partnering with the Embassy to promote German as a foreign language.
Both event organizers, Grieb and the new chair of the Department of World Languages, Stephan K. Schindler, are film scholars in addition to being professors of German.
Schindler is working on a monograph about representations of the Holocaust in film. He presented a talk on “Imagining the Unimaginable: The Holocaust in Culture” Oct. 24 to the USF Chapter of Phi Sigma Iota, the international foreign language honor society.
Grieb has published on New German Cinema and teaches several film classes at USF in which Herzog’s films feature prominently. She was pleasantly surprised at the response Herzog’s visit has elicited so far.
“I had no idea how enthusiastic and supportive my colleagues in the humanities and students would be,” she said. “It was really nice to see how well known he is even among non-‘Germanophiles.’ My students in German and film were naturally excited about the opportunity to meet such an accomplished director and have volunteered their time to help organize and publicize the event.”
More than 60 feature and documentary films and a dozen operas and books bear Herzog’s unique creative imprint -- as producer, writer and/or director. His career highlights include nominations and wins of the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, a BAFTA Award, four Cannes Palm d’Or Awards, two Independent Spirit Awards, a Sundance Film Festival Award, four Venice Film Festival Awards, an Emmy and two Berlin International Film Festival Awards.
Herzog first became well known for his work during the New German Cinema movement of the 1970’s and 80s with such films as “Aguirre,” “Wrath of God”, “Nosferatu the Vampyre” and “Fitzcarraldo.”
His more current films include “Grizzly Man,” “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call -- New Orleans," “Encounters at the End of the World” and “Rescue Dawn.” His two latest productions are documentaries. “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” in 3D came out this year. “Into the Abyss,” a documentary about two death row inmates in Texas, was recently screened at the Telluride and Toronto International Film Festivals and is set to be released throughout the United States.
Herzog also has appeared before the camera and is in the cast of the upcoming film “One Shot” with Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike and Robert Duvall.
This event is sponsored by the German Embassy, the Humanities Institute, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Departments of Communication, English, History, Humanities and Cultural Studies, Philosophy and World Languages.
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Filed under:Arts and Sciences World Languages Events Humanities Institute CreditsAuthor: Barbara Melendez Contact: