Wodaabe - Die Hirten der Sonne. Nomaden am Südrand der Sahara

A super interesting documentary about people I've never heard about before. The way their culture grants women the power to make their own choices is admirable and the courtship rituals are very colorful. The only thing I didn't like about this documentary itself was the music and the way some scenes made it too obvious that Herzog was there prompting the people at times.

Visually mesmerising and auditorily hypnotic when the male herdsman are in the full throws of performance. This is fundamentally an ethnographic film about a people who seem to be disdained by most but whom love themselves. Looks mean everything when it comes to spending a night, and possibly a lifetime, with someone.

I thought putting on a tux for a wedding was doing a lot. Herzog finds an African tribe that has a big dress-up party once a year, and let's just say it's completely alien. Yes, it could have had a bit more history (and more *native* music), but what we get is still fascinating. (I confess, though, to trying to figure out what a dating app for this tribe would look like.)

Gotta respect a tribe that's all about serving looks. Cute but awkward moment when Herzog embarrasses the prom king/queen - come on Werner, you can't ask them to kiss and tell on camera!

"I don't think so, because he's the one saying the CIA tactics remind him of Nazi Germany." http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2015/10/episode-76-nonfiction-from-werner.html

There isn't a whole lot told to us about these people. We get some ideas of their nomadic life and the hardships of famine, but not a whole lot else. And that's okay, because the images of the beauty contest are truly remarkable and will linger with me for a long time. Herzog has an uncanny knack for discovering unique subjects with at least one immensely intriguing characteristic. Here he finds the Wodaabe beauty pageant fascinating, and thankfully, so do I

I want to know how Herzog finds out about all the interesting things he documents. Not the most informative short though I've never been more interested in a beauty pageant in my life.

Still a great documentary, but I think I would have enjoyed a lot more if I didn't see Michael Palin's Sahara first.

You won't learn much about the Wodaabe tribe from this. Herzog throws in a few basic facts about their lifestyle and their problems, but he primarily focuses on the fascinating "beauty pageant". Herzog excels at finding bizarre images, and few are as entrancing as a row of gussied-up men bouncing up and down on their tippy-toes, and straining to display the whites of their eyes and teeth. The Wodaabe also seem to be a very charming people without a trace of malice despite their poverty.

Absolutely amazing.