"?The whole knowledge of the human soul passes through a football field?

Albert Camus

?The Art of Football? by Hermann Vaske is an exciting and irreverent rollercoaster ride through the crazy and creative world of football. It kick starts the inevitable frenzy in a run up to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Offering a view of a game that attracts more viewers than the Olympics, more money than Hollywood, more media than any politician.

The legendary John Cleese (?Monty Python?, ?James Bond?, ?Harry Potter?) as host will guide the audience through the diverse football landscape. Following the introduction, the format revolves around Mr. Cleese introducing the letters of the alphabet, from A to Z, with each letter representing one particular word or catch phrase relevant to football.

In the documentary sequences both football geniuses and artists, musicians, politicians express their thoughts on the game and prove it is a part of the great global zeitgeist Hermann Vaske talked to legends like Pel?, Franz Beckenbauer and Michel Platini and today?s super stars like Thierry Henry, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Kak?, Michael Ballack, as well as world soccer players Birgit Prinz and Mia Hamm. From the field of managers and referees Vaske interviewed Ars?ne Wenger, Giovanni Trapattoni and Pierluigi Collina.

From the field of music he talked to Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics. From the field of film he interviewed directors like Wim Wenders (?Buena Vista Social Club?) and Tony Kaye (?American History X?) as well as producer Nick Powell (?Fever Pitch?). From the field of acting Dennis Hopper (?Easy Rider?) und Keith Allen (?Trainspotting?) share their views on the beautiful game with us. And last but by no means least Nobel laureate Dr. Henry Kissinger, archbishop Desmond Tutu and painter Markus L?pertz are part of the film.

In the final sequence of ?The Art of Football? Cleese compares football with other art forms, and concludes that football fulfils the definition of art better than many so-called art forms: it has the power to move people. As Ars?ne Wenger once said, ?football is a branch of creativity, a branch of the arts.?

?The Art of Football? was shot in Brazil, the United States, Italy, Great Britain and Germany. Hermann Vaske shot on Digital Betacam, High Definition and Super8 in order to mix the different formats. The authenticity of the Super8 offers an exiting contrast to high definition.

?The Art of Football? is an official project of the artistic and cultural programme of the Federal Government for the FIFA World Cup 2006. It is a co-production of Hermann Vaske?s Emotional Network, Studio Hamburg, ARTE and ZDF. Director, author and producer is Hermann Vaske.

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Hermann Vaske (director, author, producer)

Hermann Vaske is a director, author and producer. As a director he worked with actors such as Dennis Hopper, Harvey Keitel, Sir Peter Ustinov and John Cleese.

He is the winner of the Grimme Award (Germany's TV Oscar) and more than 100 creative awards.

After studying at the University of the Arts in Berlin and at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles Hermann worked as Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi in London and at FCB. With it?s numerous creative Awards Hermann Vaske?s Emotional Network is one of Germany?s most awarded Advertising Agencies and Production Companies. Clients include ARTE, Deutsche Bahn, Audi, ZDF, BMW, VW,

Bayern 4 Klassik and Hornbach.

Hermann's previous television films include features on David Bowie and Yohji Yamamoto, as well as the feature length documentaries "The Fine Art of Separating People From Their Money", ?The A ? Z of Separating People From Their Money? and "The Ten Commandments of Creativity" starring Dennis Hopper and Sir Peter Ustinov, for which he won the Special Award of the Jury of the International Television Festival of Venice.

His recent books include "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants ? Conversations with the Masters of Advertising" and ?Why Are You Creative?? Which has also been presented as a TV-Series on ARTE and as an exhibition in Cannes at the International Film Festival and at the Frankfurt Book Fair..

In 2003, Hermann directed the short film "Who Killed the Idea?" starring Harvey Keitel, Debi Mazar and supermodel Nadja Auermann.