Fitzcarraldo (1982) filming locations

Isthmus between the Urubamba and Camisea Rivers

Peru

A band of forest that separates the Camisea from the Urubamba, about 900 km south of Iquitos and around sixty kilometers west of the historic Fitzcarrald isthmus.

The scene : Fitzcarraldo hauls his steamboat, the Molly Aida, over a wooded hill to move it from one river to another; hundreds of Indigenous people pull the vessel with the aid of winches and pulleys.

Peru

The scene : Detached at night by the Indigenous people, the steamer drifts uncontrollably and crashes repeatedly against the rocks of the rapids.

Iquitos, Peru

The scene : City where Fitzcarraldo lives and dreams of building an opera: the filming took place in Iquitos and its surroundings, and one of the two steamers built for the film was based there.

Iquitos, Peru

The scene : Last scene of the film: the steamer docks at the quay in Iquitos.

Manaus, Brazil

The scene : Manaus is among the filming locations for the film along with Iquitos; it is the city's opera house, the Teatro Amazonas, that inspires Fitzcarraldo's dream of an opera in the jungle.

Tabatinga, Brazil

The scene : Brazilian city on the Amazon border where part of the film was shot, in addition to Iquitos on the Peruvian side.

Roma, Italy

The scene : The performance of Ernani, Verdi's opera that is seen in the film, was staged and filmed in Rome.

Bavaria Film Studios

Geiselgasteig, Germany

Bavaria Film Studios form a vast complex of film studios located in Geiselgasteig, in the municipality of Grünwald, south of Munich. Founded in 1919 by producer Peter Ostermayr and initially operated under the name Emelka studios, they are among the oldest and largest in Europe, and were, until the fall of the Berlin Wall, the most important studio in West Germany. For a long time, they were provincial rivals of the Berlin studios, hosting numerous international productions, with a young Alfred Hitchcock making his first films there as early as 1925. The site is now home to Bavaria Filmstadt, a theme park dedicated to cinema that showcases sets and behind-the-scenes experiences to the public.

The scene : The final passage of the steamboat through the rapids, the only major special effect in the film, was completed here on a one-tenth scale model, with the water from the rapids being pumped in large quantities.