On the one hand, Uwe Boll has made big-budget action films with Oscar-winning actors and stars such as Jason Statham, Ben Kingsley, Burt Reynolds and JK Simmons.
On the other, Boll has directed some of the most hated films ever, of which one has made it to the bottom 100 films’ list in the Internet Movie Database. Online petitions have begged him to stop making films.
A new documentary, Sean Patrick Shaul’s Fuck You All: The Uwe Boll Story, looks into the method and the madness of Boll, considered one of the world’s worst filmmakers since Edward Davis Wood Jr. “I was never really into creating an image for myself,” Boll says about his enfant terrible persona. “It just happened”.
Boll is known for his terribly received feature adaptations of popular video games. His films feature near to no plot or character development and low-budget aping of Hollywood action and horror cinema. Boll has reacted violently in speech, written word as well as action to criticism, including challenging five online critics to a boxing match and defeating them in 2006. In April this year, he challenged conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to a boxing match.
Boll retired from filmmaking in 2016 and launched a restaurant that offers European cuisine in Vancouver, his hometown.
The trailer introduces the film as “a look behind the lens at the most hated man in Hollywood”. The documentary features interviews with Boll and his frequent collaborators, some of whom wonder out loud that the Germany-born filmmaker must have done something right to have directed over 30 films. The Canadian production is set to have its world premiere at the Whistler Film Festival this year.