Burden of Dreams captures legendary director Werner Herzog’s filming of his most ambitious film Fitzcarraldo, in which an entrepreneur (Klaus Kinski) endeavours to push a steamship over a mountain to build an opera house deep in the Amazon jungle.

This extraordinary document of the story behind this extraordinary film received a BAFTA for Best Documentary in 1983. Acclaimed filmmaker Les Blank was known for his films which followed musicians, artists and traditional folk culture around the US including the wonderful Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers, Always for Pleasure, and God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance. He was also responsible for the infamous, does-what-it-says-on-the-tin short film Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe.

Restored frame-by-frame in breathtaking 4K, supervised by the family of Les Blank and collaborator Maureen Gosling, Burden of Dreams earns its own spot on the big screen.

Screening as part of Behind the Scenes: Herzog & Coppola. Celebrating the 4K restorations of two seminal ‘behind-the-scenes’ filmmaking documentaries, Showroom is proud to present both films alongside their subjects for an unmissable pair of double bills.

Click here to book tickets for Fitzcarraldo and read more about the other films in the season.

Director Les Blank and Maureen Gosling
Year 1982
Duration 1h 55m
Language English, Spanish and German with English Subtitles
Cast Werner Herzog