Burden of Dreams with Werner Herzog and Ondi Timoner (Ep. 571)

The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Directors Guild of America

Tv & Film

4.6 • 806 Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Director Werner Herzog discusses Les Blank’s film Burden of Dreams, with fellow Director Ondi Timoner in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. In the conversation, he discusses the value he saw in Blank documenting the making of Fitzcarraldo, shares further insight into aspects of the shoot the documentary didn’t cover, and reflects on his memories of the late Actor Claudia Cardinale. Screened as part of the DGA’s Documentary Series, the film follows Director Werner Herzog during the filming of Fitzcarraldo, the story of one man’s attempt to build an opera house deep in the Amazonian jungle. As the production unfolds, the crew has to overcome a number of setbacks, including difficult Actors, unpredictable weather and the logistics of getting a boat over a mountain, all with the determination of realizing Herzog’s vision. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/events/2025/november2025/docseries_burdenofdreams-0925

Transcript

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0:00.0	I personally never wanted to have a film and him and I was long time reluctant.
0:08.0	He kept insisting, insisting.
0:11.0	And then I had the feeling maybe if this whole project fails to materialize,
0:19.0	something will remain of a great effort.
0:23.6	...of a great effort. Hello and welcome back to the director's cut, brought to you by the Directors Guild of America.
0:48.3	In this episode, a legendary director chronicles his process while filming an ambitious, in Les Blank's documentary, Burden of Dreams.
0:58.0	Screened as part of the DGA's documentary series,
1:01.0	the film follows director Werner Herzog during the filming of Fitzcarraldo,
1:05.0	the story of one man's attempt to build an opera house deep in the Amazonian jungle.
1:10.0	As the production unfolds, the crew has to overcome a number of setbacks, including difficult
1:15.5	actors, unpredictable weather, and the logistics of getting a boat over a mountain, all with
1:20.9	the determination of realizing Herzog's vision.
1:24.5	In addition to Burden of Dreams, Blank's other directorial credits include the documentary features,
1:30.3	A Poem is a Naked Person, Always for Pleasure, Innocence Abroad, The Maestro, King of the Cowboy Artists,
1:38.3	Garlic is as good as 10 mothers, and, in heaven, there is no beer.
1:43.7	Blank passed away in 2013.
1:47.3	In addition to Fitzcaraldo's upper directorial credits
1:51.3	include the feature films Aguirre, The Rath of God,
1:54.8	The Enigma of Casper Hauser, Nospheratu the Vampire, and Rescue Dawn,
2:00.4	and the documentary features Into the Abyss, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, and Little Deter needs to fly.
2:07.6	He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary for his 2005 feature, Grizzly Man.
2:16.6	Following the documentary series screening of the film at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles,
	...

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