Werner Herzog To Receive Donostia Award At San Sebastián
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- Werner Herzog will receive the Donostia Award — the San Sebastián Festival's highest honorary distinction — at its opening gala during the September 18-26 edition.
- "Bucking Fastard" will screen at the Victoria Eugenia Theatre before the award ceremony at the Kursaal, with the new feature starring Rooney Mara, Kate Mara, Orlando Bloom, and Domhnall Gleeson as twin sisters whose bond leads them to speak in unison, love the same man, and share the same dreams.
- The Venice Film Festival will host the world launch of "Bucking Fastard" ahead of its San Sebastián screening, making the film a key title bridging the fall festival circuit.
- Herzog's six-decade career spans roughly 80 films, from classics "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" (1972) and "Fitzcarraldo" (1982) — for which he hauled a steamship over a mountain in the jungle — to documentaries "Grizzly Man" (2005) and "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" (2010).
- His "ecstatic truth" philosophy has shaped his work, advocating cinema that moves beyond factual observation to reveal a deeper, more poetic dimension of reality.
- Herzog's acting credits extend his reach beyond directing, including roles in "Jack Reacher," "The Mandalorian," and guest appearances on "The Simpsons."
Why it matters: The Donostia Award positions Herzog alongside the festival's previous lifetime-achievement honorees, capping a career of roughly 80 films that began with night-shift welding to self-finance early shorts. The simultaneous Venice launch of "Bucking Fastard" makes the new feature a flagship title bridging two of Europe's biggest fall festivals.
