Walking to Werner (2006)

Inspired by world renowned film director Werner Herzog's 1974 trek from Germany to Paris to visit his dying mentor Lotte Eisner, first-time filmmaker Linas Phillips vows to walk from Seattle to Los Angeles in order to meet the man behind such acclaimed cinema classics as Aguirre: The Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo. Mention the name Werner Herzog to any dedicated film fan and it instantly becomes obvious just what an effect the German director has had on the world of international cinema. Of course anyone who knows about Herzog is well aware that the director himself has done some pretty outlandish things from time to time (further evidence of this can be found in the appetizing 1980 documentary Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe), but now the tables have turned and emerging filmmaker Eisner is willing to do whatever it takes to come face to face with his cinema idol. Along the way Eisner meets a wide array of colorful characters including a man named Scorpio Johnnie Angel who has been walking for three years, a convicted murderer-turned-chainsaw artist named Brian, and a drug-addicted mother struggling to care for her six children while slowly dying of AIDS. Meanwhile, as Phillips soldiers onward towards his Hollywood destination, e-mails, voice messages, and DVD commentaries by Herzog and longtime collaborator Norman Hill send the budding filmmaker on an emotional journey inward as his feet begin to blister and the outcome of his arduous journey becomes increasingly uncertain.