I've probably told this story a hundred times on the site, but while visiting theLas Vegas set of The Grand I had the psychotropic opportunity to spend about an hour in the company of Woody Harrelson, Brett Ratner andWerner Herzog. Those of us who weren't Herzog sat rapt for every second, listening to the great director spin tales from his life and his travels. Listening to him talk about the exhilaration of being shot at unsuccessfully. The joys of the jungle. The madness of Klaus Kinski.

Now you have a chance to have that same experience. For about 1500 bucks, that is. Herzog is opening his own film school, but there will be no classes about the way you make movies. This school is to teach about life. From the Rogue Film School website:

The Rogue Film School will not teach anything technical related to film-making. For this purpose, please enroll at your local film school.

The Rogue Film School is about a way of life. It is about a climate, the excitement that makes film possible. It will be about poetry, films, music, images, literature.

The focus of the seminars will be a dialogue with Werner Herzog, in which the participants will have their voice with their projects, their questions, their aspirations.

Excerpts of films will be discussed, which could include your submitted films; they may be shown and discussed as well. Depending on the materials, the attention will revolve around essential questions: how does music function in film? How do you narrate a story? (This will certainly depart from the brainless teachings of three-act-screenplays). How do you sensitize an audience? How is space created and understood by an audience? How do you produce and edit a film? How do you create illumination and an ecstasy of truth?

Related, but more practical subjects, will be the art of lockpicking. Traveling on foot. The exhilaration of being shot at unsuccessfully. The athletic side of filmmaking. The creation of your own shooting permits. The neutralization of bureaucracy. Guerrilla tactics. Self reliance.

Censorship will be enforced. There will be no talk of shamans, of yoga classes, nutritional values, herbal teas, discovering your Boundaries, and Inner Growth.

Related, but more reflective, will be a reading list: if possible, read Virgil's "Georgics", read "Hemingway's "The short happy life of Francis Macomber", The Poetic Edda, translated by Lee M. Hollander (in particular the Prophecy of the Seeress), Bernal Diaz del Castillo "True History of the Conquest of New Spain".

Follow your vision. Form secretive Rogue Cells everywhere. At the same time, be not afraid of solitude.

If you have the money to spend (it's 25 bucks just to APPLY), the Rogue Film School will be happening all over the world. I bet this is an experience worth every penny.