Herzog's Minnesota Declaration

The Minnesota Declaration was issued at the Walker Art Center in 1999 by German filmmaker Werner Herzog A statement of principles, Herzog speaks of the "lessons of darkness" including observations on then Governor Jesse Ventura and the idea "You can't legislate stupidity" regarding people riding their snowmobiles on lakes when the ice has already melted.

At the time Herzog had grown critical of Cinema Verité and was calling for new answers to the 1960s filmmaking principles used as a Bible. Herzog also sat down with Henry Rollin's Show to continue to articulate his ideas about filmmaking.

The conversation between film critic Roger Ebert and Werner Herzog took place on April 30, 1999 during the Regis Dialogue series which will be celebrating 20 years.