CFF6 in 1982 saw a widening of the Cambridge Film Festival programme and the hosting of the UK Premiere of Werner Herzog’s FITZCARRALDO.

One of Werner Herzog’s most acclaimed and audacious films, ‘Fitzcarraldo’ tells the incredible story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (played by Herzog regular Klaus Kinski), an opera-loving fortune hunter who dreams of bringing opera to the heart of the Peruvian jungle. 

With the help of the beautiful madam Molly (Claudia Cardinale), his loyal crew, and an indigenous tribe, ‘Fitzcarraldo’ journeys up the rivers of the Amazon hauling his steamship, the Molly Aida, over a mountain in order to access the riches of hitherto unexploited rubber territory. 

In making his film of the visionary's adventures, Herzog famously refused to use special effects and insisted instead on actually transporting a steamship over the mountains!

★★★★ “ARGUABLY THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT FROM THE HUGELY VOLATILE HERZOG/KINSKI PARTNERSHIP.” - EMPIRE