Werner Herzog's notoriously combative relationship with Klaus Kinski reached something of a pitch in their final collaboration. A famous picture taken onset shows Kinski attempting to throttle Herzog in front of a crowd of African extras. Herzog discusses the picture with photographer Beat Presser in the documentary My Best Fiend (1999): Herzog thinks that Kinski, aware of the camera, wanted to create a dramatic moment (Presser thinks Kinski was genuinely trying to kill him). On another occasion, Kinski tried to attack Herzog with a rock.
The man whose arm gets stuck in the sugar pressing machine was played by a man with a missing arm who could simply stick his arm into the machine and make it appear as if his whole arm was being mashed.
The producers suggested that Werner Herzog should cast Afro-American actors as the African characters, but Herzog insisted on casting local African performers.
Werner Herzog had the end credits play over the young girls dancing and singing because he felt the film dealt so much with the negative aspects of Africa that he needed to show something positive, too.
Was originally picked up for U.S. theatrical distribution by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, but the theatrical release intended for the U.S. was cancelled after DEG fell into bankruptcy. It would not get released in the U.S. until the year 2000, when Anchor Bay released it on DVD and VHS for the first time in the U.S.