Werner Herzog to Be Honored by American Society of Cinematographers

Jazz Tangcay

Werner Herzog will be honored by the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) with its board of governors award.

Herzog has been producing, writing and directing films for over seven decades. His work carries a stamp of surrealness and exoticness to it, whether he’s sitting down with former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev in “Meeting Gorbachev” or reimagining Dracula in “Nosferatu the Vampyre.”

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His body of work is so unique that it has coined the term Herzogian.

As a native of Germany, Herzog is known for leading the influential post-war West German cinema movement with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Volker Schlöndorff. But it’s Herzog’s partnerships with actor Klaus Kinski that resulted in some of their best and most famous work.

Frequent collaborations with cinematographers Thomas Mauch and Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein helped develop his visual style and language. Herzog is renowned for including shots that weren’t planned, letting his locations influence and inspire his storytelling.

Having worked on over 70 films, Herzog has traveled the world, from Madrid to the jungles of Southeast Asia to the rainforest in Peru, to tell his stories. No location or environment is off limits for him.

“Werner Herzog is truly a unique storyteller, and we are honored to recognize him for his prolific contributions to cinema,” said ASC president Kees van Oostrum.

Previous recipients of the ASC board of governors award include Jeff Bridges, Angelina Jolie, Denzel Washington, Ridley Scott, Barbra Streisand, Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, Christopher Nolan, Morgan Freeman, Francis Ford Coppola, Sally Field, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

Nominations for achievement in film were previously announced, and include “Joker,” “The Irishman” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

The tribute will be made at the 34th Annual ASC Awards on Jan. 25 at Hollywood & Highland’s Ray Dolby Ballroom.

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