Twenty Years Ago: Werner Herzog Delivers his Minnesota Declaration

On April 30, 1999, filmmaker Werner Herzog stepped onto the Walker stage and made a pronouncement that would influence a generation of documentarians. “Cinema Verité is devoid of verité,” he said. “It reaches a merely superficial truth, the truth of accountants.” His 12-point Minnesota Declaration, as Roger Ebert later wrote, was historic: “For the first time, it fully explained his theory of ‘ecstatic truth.’”