"What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams."

Werner Herzog

Where to start with Werner Herzog? Director, screenwriter, author, actor, and sometime opera director, Herzog's personal mythology, built on apocryphal tales of eccentric auteurism and wildly demanding film shoots, has become as much a story as his films. 

From filming on the banks of angry volcanos to directing actors at gunpoint, the stories of Herzog's fanatical pursuit of authenticity are many, whatever their basis in reality. What is certainly true is that on film, the results of his approach are often remarkable.

From the palpable, sweaty doom of the Peruvian Jungle in Aguirre, Wrath of God  to the hypnotic collective madness of Heart of Glass, Herzog's filmmaking is always precariously close to the edge.

Here's a great selection of photographs of Herzog on location, courtesy of the Werner Herzog Collection, held by Deutsche Kinemathek.

And for newcomers to the world of Herzog, here's Act of Killing director (and Herzog collaborator) Joshua Oppenheimer's recommendations. 

The BFI is delighted to present the extraordinary Werner Herzog Collection, showcasing 18 key Herzog films in one comprehensive package.