One of the world’s greatest living directors is coming to Penn, and the event has been so poorly advertised it Herz-og.

That’s Werner Herzog, the prolific director who gave us Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Grizzly Man, and most recently, Encounters at the End of the World. That one’s a documentary about the scientists living in Antarctica. Like most Herzog films, it will probably feature some really incredible landscapes and some equally incredible people.

On Tuesday, The International House will be screening Encounters and on Wednesday at 5, Werner himself will be in Meyerson B1 asking “Was the 20th Century a Mistake?” Then on Thursday he’ll be discussing his work with Professor Karen Beckman.

But you probably didn’t know all that, because only about two posters have been put up for the event — both of them behind the heavy, heavy doors of Fisher-Bennett. (Honestly, those doors are so fucking huge I don’t even feel guilty pushing the handicapped button.)

What’s the deal? The Department of Cinema Studies is hosting this whole thing. Do they think their major is so esoteric that this will only appeal to the people on its listserv? We’re talking about movie-watching, not neuroscience. CINE376: Advanced Popcorn Munching is not a prerequisite for enjoying a free movie and listening to the director talk about it.

Maybe Herzog just isn’t as big of a deal as I thought. But if that’s so, then it’s an even better reason to advertise the event. The guy really is a genius, and he deserves some hype.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 22nd, 2007 at 4:22 pm and is filed under Penn. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.