“The proper route to an understanding of the world is an examination of our errors about it.” 

said self proclaimed “perverse”, Academy Award winning, essayistic style American filmmaker aka ‘Mr. Interrotron’ , Errol Morris (1948 – New York), and according to the Guardian, the World’s 7th (40 best Directors) best active Director, known from “Gates of Heaven”(1978), “The Thin Blue Line” (1988), about his 2004 Oscar winning instant-classic and mesmerising feature-length documentary “The Fog of War” (2003). 

“The Fog of War” was a 2003 American documentary film, and is on my personal Top3 essential-viewing-documentaries-list since 2003. The film features an multiple original scores by my personal favourite and notable minimalist composer Philip Glass – (Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts – TRAILER). It deals with life and times of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara (Harry Kreisler, 1996, Interview, University of California Television (UCTV) illustrating his observations of the nature of modern warfare. The title derives from the military concept of the “fog of war” (German: Nebel des Krieges) depicting the difficulty of making decisions in the midst of conflict – Original website, Trailer and PressRelease 

• Robert McNamara gives us the lessons he learned when he was Secretary of Defense – CLIP 

“I know what many of you are thinking. You’re thinking, ‘This man is duplicitous.
You’re thinking that he has held things close to his chest. You’re thinking that he did not
respond fully to the desires and wishes of the American people.
And I want to tell you ‘you’re wrong’.”
Robert S. McNamara in The Fog of War 

• The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (Run time 106 minutes 42 seconds) (ORDER DVD) 

More about Morris on AskTheRightQuestion.org: 

• Errol Morris’s latest Documentary on Donald Rumsfeld
  
• New York Times Morris 7 Op-Docs’ 
• Hello Wizard presents Errol Morris (1978 – 2014) 
  
• Errol Morris’s Oscar Short Film: 2002 Oscars (Youtube) 
  
• Errol Morris Loves Directing Ads (Radio Interview) 

Errol Morris Central Guest IDFA 2015

Each year, a renowned filmmaker gets the chance to present his or her personal documentary Top 10 at the prestigious IDFA Festival. Since its launch in 1988, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has been one of the world’s leading documentary film festivals, dedicated to the exhibition and promotion of ground-breaking creative documentaries. The 2015 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam runs from November 18-29. I highly recommend visiting Amsterdam during this period. It’s the only film related festival in the world, where more then 90% of all film directors are present to do an Q&A after the film. 

This year IDFA is partnering with documentary pioneer Errol Morris for his retrospective program.  featuring six of the director’s films. “The Thin Blue Line” (1988), “Fast, Cheap and Out of Control” (1997), “Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.” (1999), “The Fog of War” (2003), “Tabloid” (2010) and “The Unknown Known” (2013).  Continue reading here. And here. 

Morris will also discuss his work and this Top 10 in a master class during IDFA. Continue reading here. 

Morris’ Top 10 program includes:

1. “Bright Leaves” (USA, 2002) by Ross McElwee
2. Fata Morgana" (Germany, 1971) by Werner Herzog
3. “It Felt Like a Kiss” (UK, 2009) by Adam Curtis
4. “Land Without Bread” (Spain, 1932) by Luis Buñuel
5. “Let There Be Light” (USA, 1946) by John Huston
6. “Man with a Movie Camera” (USSR, 1929) by Dziga Vertov
7. “One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevitch” (France, 1999) by Chris Marker
8. “Tales of the Grim Sleeper” (USA/UK, 2014) by Nick Broomfield
9. “The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On” (Japan, 1987) by Kazuo Hara
10. “Welfare” (USA, 1975) by Frederick Wiseman

A-One-to-Visit! Photo credit: IDFA.