Werner Herzog Warns Against AI and Pays Tribute to Outgoing Director
Summary
Accepting his own Donostia Award Friday, the director said life "should not be dictated by algorithms," at a ceremony that also addressed the war in Gaza and honored retiring festival chief Jose Luis Rebordinos
Werner Herzog opened San Sebastian's 74th edition by receiving the festival's Donostia Award on Friday night, using his acceptance to warn against artificial intelligence's growing role in filmmaking, telling the crowd that life "should not be dictated by algorithms," according to Spanish and international outlets covering the ceremony. Orlando Bloom, who stars in Herzog's upcoming Bucking Fastard, presented the award, calling the 84-year-old director "a treasure of cinema" and praising his willingness to follow an idea "even when it leads somewhere completely unexpected." Herzog traced his connection to the Basque region back to a walk across the Pyrenees decades ago, tied to his 1972 film Aguirre, the Wrath of God. The same ceremony's hosts, Fariba Sheikhan and Mariona Terés, called for an end to "the genocide happening in Gaza" and voiced support for Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the Israeli co-directors of the documentary Naza, who have faced calls from Israeli government officials to be stripped of their citizenship. The evening also paid tribute to outgoing festival director Jose Luis Rebordinos, who steps down after 17 years leading San Sebastian; Carlos Prada, an executive at Warner Bros., thanked him from the stage. The opening film was Fatih Akin's Ghost Song.