Is German cinema undergoing a renaissance? It would certainly seem so, given the success of films like Oliver Hirschbiegel's Downfall (Der Untergang), featuring Bruno Ganz as Hitler, Fatih Aiken's Head-On (Gegen die Wand), Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's outstanding debut The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) and many more. There has also been a renewed interest resulting from the recent DVD releases of Edgar Reitz's monumental Heimat trilogy and screenings of a digitally restored print of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's epic Berlin Alexanderplatz, to be released on DVD by Criterion later this year. Now comes word of a couple of Werner Herzog retrospectives announced for May and June. First, a retrospective of the the director's 35-mm documentaries will take place at the Film Forum in NY from May 18 - June 7. A full listing of the screenings here. The man himself will put in an appearance on May 19, 20 and 21. There will also be a Herzog Retrospective at the 25th annual Munich Film Festival (June 22-30), where all 52 of the director's films will be shown.

Thanks to Angela for the pointer.

An overview of the work of Werner Herzog at Senses of Cinema