Cool Hunting

Many of us have had to eat our words; few have eaten our shoes. In 1978, German personality and New Wave director Werner Herzog did both after losing a bet with fellow filmmaker Errol Morris. In a bid to encourage his friend and protégé, Herzog wagered that Morris would not complete his first documentary film "Gates of Heaven" (1978), which examined pet cemeteries in America.

This funny and poignant short film by California director Les Blank is being shown at London's Seventeen Gallery. The 22-minute film will be shown on a loop for the whole month of March, which we think is as good excuse as any to check out this rare short of Herzog at his best. Herzog has a long list of accomplishments including Grizzly Man (2005) for which he won best director at Cannes.

Morris himself also went to become an accomplished director of course, winning an Academy Award for Best Documentary for The Fog of War(2003), an introspective interview with former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, one of the chief architects of the Vietnam War.

If you can't make it to the London exhibit, Criterion's release of Blank's " Burden of Dreams" features it as an extra.

Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
27 February-22 March 2008
Seventeen Gallery
17 Kingsland Road
London E2 8AA map
United Kingdom
tel. +44 (0)20 77295777