Shooting People, Revolver Entertainment and the Barbican present Encounters with Herzog – a film competition, to be judged by Werner himself.

Taking inspiration from the director’s filmmaking spirit – his fascination with the natural world and the obsessive, intrepid individuals who venture into it – we want filmmakers to bring their vision of man’s relationship with nature to the screen. The brief is open and we hope filmmakers will explore this idea with originality and creativity – your focus may be the emergence of nature in the urban environment, the story of misadventure in the countryside, or extreme encounters between man and beast.

The film can be a self-contained short or an extract from a longer film. It can be shot brand new for this competition or it can be clipped or remixed from a film you made previously. It can be any genre – not just documentary but fiction or hybrid. It can be a personal film with your own voiceover – or not. It can be live action or animation or both.

The winning film, as chosen by Herzog, will be screened prior to his documentary Encounters at the End of the World at the Barbican on Sunday 27 September 2009. The film is part of the Werner Herzog Directorspective which will be running 12-27 September 2009. Revolver Entertainment will be releasing Encounters on DVD on 31 August.

Emerging as a strong voice of the German new wave, Werner Herzog’s singular and ambitious filmmaking has made him one of the most distinctive auteurs of his generation. His fascination with the natural world has brought some remarkable narratives and environments to the screen. We hope Herzog’s filmmaking spirit will inspire a new generation of filmmakers to do something similar.

All entries must be 12 minutes or under.