Werner Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" (VIDEO)

WATCH: Werner Herzog On Cave Art

Werner Herzog's new film, "Cave of Forgotten Dreams," examines some of the first traces of human culture. In the documentary, the prolific German director of such films as "Nosferatu the Vampyre" and "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" is granted an exclusive visit to the Chauvet Cave in southern France. Herzog introduces viewers to images of lions, rhinoceroses and other animals that lived in what is now Europe over 30,000 years ago, painted during the last ice age by Cro-Magnon artists. These Paleolithic humans decorated the cave with scenes from the hunt, displaying individual style and collaboration across centuries. The film, part history lesson and part inquiry into the nature of human creation, premieres April 29 in the US, and drops Herzog's instantly recognizable voice into the ancient, echoing cavern. The Seattle Times has an unsurprisingly profound interview with the director, who offers, among other nuggets, "You sense somehow this is the origin of the modern human soul; this is the origin of art."

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