| Sleeping Sickness | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ulrich Köhler |
| Written by | Ulrich Köhler |
| Starring | Pierre Bokma |
| Cinematography | Patrick Orth |
| Release date(s) | 12 February 2011 (Berlinale) |
| Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
Sleeping Sickness (German: Schlafkrankheit) is a 2011 German drama film, directed by Ulrich Köhler. It premiered in competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival,[1] where Köhler won the Silver Bear for Best Director.[2]
Contents |
Ebbo Velten works in Africa in a project for treating sleeping sickness patients with his wife and daughter. Compared with the level of financial aid from Europe there are few patients. The family is preparing to move back to Europe but he is having second thoughts, and his acquantaince tries to convince him to stay.
The film then skips three years into the future where a French inspector from the World Health Organization pays a visit to assess the programme. Before he reaches the clinic there is friction with local people because he is very alert of the danger of paying too much or being robbed. When he arrives at the clinic, the inspector needs to talk to Velten to assess the project, but he is nowhere to be found. A woman at the clinic starts to give birth, and he starts to perform a caesarean section because no other doctor is around, but is unable to cope with the pressure as he has never done one before. Velten arrives just in time to perform the operation and deliver the baby. It transpires that Velten's wife and daughter have moved back to Europe without him, and that he has started a relationship with the local woman who gave birth (the baby was his). Velten takes the inspector to see clinics testing for sleeping sickness, but no cases are reported. Velten takes the inspector to see a business venture on the marshes.
Later Velten takes the inspector hunting in the bush at night with his acquantaince and a guide. The acquantaince has an argument with Velten, and then leaves and goes back to town. Velten and the guide continue hunting while the inspector sleeps. He is woken by a gunshot and soon sees the guide coming towards him, who takes him to the river before leaving. He sleeps there for the rest of the night and is then picked up by the guide in a boat. It is unclear what has happened to Velten, but it is assumed that he is dead. After the boat leaves a hippopotamus emerges from the jungle, which may have played some part in his death.