Burden of Dreams

Restored in 2024, Les Blank’s and Maureen Gosling’s Burden of Dreams is one of the most compelling documentaries made about the process of making a film. Following the arduous production of German auteur Werner Herzog’s 1982 film Fitzcarraldo in the Amazons, this documentary captures the seemingly never ending disasters on-set: poor weather, difficult actors, and a herculean attempt to get a steamship over a mountain.

This screening will be preceded by an extended introduction from Brad Prager, Professor of German and Film Studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia.