Werner Herzog is Changing the World with His Haunting Doc, 'From One Second to the Next'

Legendary German filmmaker Werner Herzog is truly one of the masters of documentary, and he has created more amazing documentaries than could be counted on all of your fingers and toes. In a rather unlikely partnership, Herzog recently teamed  up with several major cellular companies in order to craft a short documentary about one of the major issues that we face in our technology-laden society, texting and driving. The result is a doc called From One Second to the Next, and it might very well be some of Herzog's most haunting and heart-wrenching work to date.

As long as the documentary form has existed, it has been used to document and provide insight into an array of cultures, individuals, and societal issues. In many cases, a well-crafted documentary has the power not only to inform an audience, but to sway opinion through providing a sense of emotional resonance on the given issue. Herzog certainly demonstrates this in From One Second to the Next.

Here's his film in its entirety.

Obviously this is a piece that is meant to pull at the heartstrings of its audience, and it's incredibly successful in that endeavor. With this documentary, however, Herzog has made something that might just reach further than any of his previous work. Because it was commissioned by the four giants of the cellular industry, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile, From One Second to the Next has some serious backing.

As a result of this partnership, Herzog's doc is now required viewing for more than 40,000 high schools and a multitude of safety organizations and government agencies. It's no stretch to imagine that, within this massive context, a documentary as utterly haunting and revealing as From One Second to the Next might just change the world for the better and save some lives. It truly is a testament to the power of filmmaking.

What do you guys think of From One Second to the Next? Let's hear your thoughts down in the comments!

Link: Werner Herzog Made a Documentary About Texting And Driving. And It's Haunting -- Brow Beat, Slate's Culture Blog