Rudolph Herzog newsletter

I have just returned from the annual "JA! Bilbao" festival on humour in art and literature. I had been invited to give a talk in the city's Sala BBK auditorium followed by a book signing. I was very favourably impressed both by the city and the quality of the event which is now closing its sixth edition. My visit was covered by El Mundo and various other media, of which I'm copying in a link below. The festival website, should you be interested, is jabilbao.com

As some of you may have noticed, I wrote a dozen or so film columns for NEWSWEEK (European edition). For those interested, I've attached some recent “peer reviews” of mine below. There are plenty more on the Newsweek web page and of course in the print issues.

Meanwhile, have a prosperous and happy summer and enjoy the read.

http://europe.newsweek.com/film-review-gentle-optician-confronts-his-bro...

http://europe.newsweek.com/film-connection-captures-gutter-charm-marseil...

http://www.newsweek.com/2015/04/24/dark-times-sunny-portugal-322901.html

After a pretty satisfying award season last year with "The President" reaping the Golden Hugo at the Chicago FF, this time my latest doc (co-directed with Steve Humphries) has been nominated for a Royal Television Society award in the category best documentary. The awards ceremony will take place at the Old Vic in Bristol on Sunday, March 9th 2015. I'll be attending the event.

http://www.rts.org.uk/rts-west-england-award-ceremony-2014-2015

Yesterday, the first reviews came back for my most recent film, The Peadophile Next Door, broadcast on Channel 4 (co-director: Steve Humphries). I've copied in some of the press responses and a short synopsis below. The film also rated significantly above the benchmark, coming in at 1.7 million live views.
UPDATE: Film was discussed in UK parliament briefly today 28-11-14

Press quotes:

"a triumph of brave and considered logic"
THE GUARDIAN

"a calm and sensible film"
-THE TIMES

"a groundbreaking documentary"
ITV

SYNOPSIS

The latest film coproduced by my company, Brümmer&Herzog Filmproduktion, has just won the Chicago Filmfestival (Golden Hugo Award).

Set “in an unknown country”– and shot in the Republic of Georgia– “The President” is a timely drama about a deposed dictator on the run with his 5-year-old grandson after a coup d’etat. They meet freed political prisoners who survived torture, as Mahkmalbaf did at the hands of the Shah’s secret police in the ‘70s.

Some reviews have come back from the two most recent projects I've been working on:

-My film A SHORT HISTORY OF NUCLEAR FOLLY went out in Germany and France on ARTE and was reviewed very favourably by Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany's leading daily paper.
"a tale of negligence and hubris that makes one speechless... at other times one can't help but laugh out loud". Spektrum described it as a „symphony of the absurd“. The film also rated well, coming in more than a third above the benchmark.

As some of you may know, I co-produced THE PRESIDENT, the latest feature film of legendary Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf. The latest is that the film will open the renowned "Orizzonti" strand of the Venice Film Festival 2014.
If you want to know more about the project, please refer to the synopsis below.
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The transmission date for my new film A SHORT HISTORY OF NUCLEAR FOLLY (German title: "Die Atombombe im Vorgarten") has now been published, it's August 19th, at 09:50 p.m. on German/French culture channel ARTE. As a run-up to the broadcast, I did a 1 hour interview with German public radio. It includes stories from both the film and my book of the same title, as well as a more general portrait of yours truly. It will also be available as a podcast & stream from the HR2 Kultur website. I've attached the relevant details and a blurb below. All German language only, I hasten to add...

My SHORT HISTORY OF NUCLEAR FOLLY is now available as a paperback. Check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nuclear-Folly/dp/1612193307/ref=tmm_...

I actually spent most of last year turning FOLLIES into a film. It will be released in Germany and France sometime this summer. International sales are handled by ZDF Enterprises. As soon as more specific dates emerge, I'll create an updated post.