Herzog’s Into the Abyss Launches DOC NYC Festival

A packed house at Werner Herzog’s Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life kicked off the second annual DOC NYC.

The film, shown for the first time in New York, explores the human consequences of a triple homicide in Texas. Herzog interviewed the victims’ families and the convicted killers, including a 28-year-old man on death row, eight days before his execution. But despite the controversial nature of the death penalty, Herzog deftly avoided making a political film.

“I didn’t want this to be an ‘issue’ movie,” Herzog said in the post-screening discussion.

Herzog’s producer, Erik Nelson, added, “It’s like the death penalty is the big rock that got tossed into the lake, and this movie is about the ripples that spread out from that. It’s not about the rock, it’s about the ripples.”

Herzog, a German citizen, is against the death penalty, but said, “I am a guest in your country, how would it sound for me to come here and tell you how to improve things? I just say, ‘I respectfully disagree. Period.'”