Herzog filmfest at The Podium

Movie buffs will also have the rare chance to view German director Werner Herzog’s highly acclaimed films in nightly screenings at The Podium’s Cinema 2 until Feb. 4. All screenings begin at 7:30 p.m. and are open to the public. Seating is on a first come, first served basis.

Among the films featured are Heart of Glass, Stroszeck and Cobra Verde.

Heart of Glass is based on the legend of popular historical hero in Eastern Bavaria. The story revolves around Muhlhias, a cowherd with visionary talents and is set in a glassworks in a village in the Bavarian forest in the 19th century. The master of the glassworks dies and takes the secret of making ruby glass to the grave with him. The quest for the secret formula brings together the owner of glassworks and the visionary who meet together in prison. Here, the two come closer together, act regardless of the consequences and the people around them to pursue a predetermined path, a higher objective. Heart of Glass will be shown tomorrow, Feb. 1.

Stroszeck revolves around Bruno Stroszeck, a travelling musician and ballad singer. As he is released from prison, he is warned by his director not to touch alcohol again, as this was the reason for his crimes. Storszceck gives his "Hungarian word of honor; and as he steps outside the door, he downs a bottle of beer in the pub around the corner. What follows is his struggle to remain sober, an unfulfilled love story, the start and end of a dream. Catch Stroszeck on Tuesday, Feb. 3.

Capping the festival is Cobra Verde, based on the novel The Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin. Impoverished by drought, cheated of his wages as a miner, Francisco Manuel de Silva commits murder and becomes a bandit, calling himself Cobra Verde. As portrayed by Klaus Kinski, we see Cobra Verde’s rise from a slave trader in Brazil to a viceroy in Africa. When the slave trade is abolished he discovers that has been cheated by his partners, and the English have a price on his head. He tries to flee only to meet his tragic end. Cobra Verde is a must-see on Wednesday, Feb. 4.

Complementing the filmfest is an exhibit featuring spectacular photos by Swiss photographer Beat Presser and photos from the collection of the Berlin Film Museum, compiled on the occasion of Werner Herzog’s 60th birthday. The exhibition will run also until Feb. 4.