Hubert Sauper‘s films are voyages of discovery in the global present. While he exposed the networks rooted in colonialism from an African perspective in Darwin’s Nightmare and We Come as Friends, he has adopted a new focus in EPICENTRO. His new film is a multi-faceted essayist encounter with the Caribbean island of Cuba. In it the filmmaker explores the historical background to the many connotations surrounding power and longing here, a story which proceeds in a spiral of liberation and conquest. A dynamic which is driven in no small part by the powerful medium of cinema itself.

From 2016 on, the Werner Herzog Foundation ist planning to honor a special achievement in innovation, courage, and vision in the art of cinema. The jury agreed unanimously on the first Werner Herzog Award laureate – Hubert Sauper for his disquieting documentary on Sudan WE COME AS FRIENDS.

Hubert Sauper führt in WE COME AS FRIENDS seine Reflexionen zum Thema Kolonialisierung weiter.

«I witnessed in 1997 for the first time the strange encounter of two gigantic airplanes, both bursting with food. The first cargo jet brought 45 tons of yellow peas from America to feed the refugees in the nearby UN camps. The second plane took off for the European Union, heaving with 50 tons of fresh fish.»  Notes by Hubert Sauper on his documentary Darwin's Nightmare, nominated as Best Documentary for the 78^th Academy Awards.