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Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe 1980

These days you hear about things like shoe-eating out of context and it sounds ridiculous, but to me it made perfect sense. I did it as an encouragement for anyone who doesn't have the guts to make films. And anyway, a man should eat his shoes every once in a while. - Werner Herzog

When a young Errol Morris complained to Werner Herzog that he was struggling to fund his first film, Herzog dismissed these concerns and told the future Oscar-winning documentarian to forget the money and simply start filming. As an incentive, Herzog claims to have promised "I'll eat the shoes I'm wearing the day I see your film for the first time." Morris would go on to release his debut documentary Gates of Heaven in 1978 — and so Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe came into being.

This short film, directed by Herzog's friend Les Blank, delivers on its title. It shows the eponymous filmmaker preparing, cooking, and eating his leather boot in front of a crowd at the Berkley restaurant Chez Panisse. Whether it was an inspired moment of madcap determination or simply an absurd publicity stunt, it is yet another testament to the single-minded fortitude of one of cinema's great eccentrics.

20 minutes | All Ages

Burden of Dreams 1982

Les always had the final say; I never asked him to change things, even I knew they might be damaging to me … Sometimes it's better not to have all the facts, though 'Burden of Dreams' remains the best "making of" film ever made. - Werner Herzog

One of the greatest behind-the-scenes documentaries ever filmed, Burden of Dreams is the story of the incredible production of Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo 1982.

The documentary was shot by Herzog's friend and fellow filmmaker Les Blank, whose inquisitive camera captures the gruelling work that went into Fitzcarraldo's creation: from a wildly unpredictable lead actor in Klaus Kinski and the corralling hundreds of extras, to the hauling of the 320 tonne ship over a mountain. Burden of Dreams is an amazing document of one of the most legendary productions in cinema history. Much like the relationship between Apocalypse Now 1979 and Hearts of Darkness 1991, the documentary only expands the mystique of the feature film it covers and remains just as grand of an artistic achievement.

95 minutes | M | Infrequent moderate coarse language