''On the Verge of a Fever'' (french: Le Goût des jeunes filles) is a 2004

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

drama film, directed by

John L'Ecuyer John L'Ecuyer (born November 15, 1964) is a Canadian film and television director. Biography John L'Ecuyer's first feature, '' Curtis's Charm'' (1995), was an adaptation of a Jim Carroll story. The film received a Special Jury Citation as Best Can ...

. An adaptation of

Dany Laferrière Dany Laferrière (born Windsor Kléber Laferrière, 13 April 1953) is a Haitian-Canadian novelist and journalist who writes in French. He was elected to seat 2 of the Académie française on 12 December 2013, and inducted in May 2015. Life Bor ...

's novel ''Dining with the Dictator (Le Goût des jeunes filles)'', the film is set in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

over the weekend in 1971 when

François Duvalier François Duvalier (; 14 April 190721 April 1971), also known as Papa Doc, was a Haitian politician of French Martiniquan descent who served as the President of Haiti from 1957 to 1971. He was elected president in the 1957 general election on ...

died and was succeeded as president of Haiti by his son

Jean-Claude Duvalier Jean-Claude Duvalier (; 3 July 19514 October 2014), nicknamed "Baby Doc" ( ht, Bebe Dòk), was a Haitian politician who was the President of Haiti from 1971 until he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February 1986. He succeeded his father F ...

. It centres on Fanfan (Lansana Kourouma), a teenage boy who is hiding from the

Tonton Macoute The Tonton Macoute ( ht, Tonton Makout) or simply the Macoute was a special operations unit within the Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier. In 1970 the militia was renamed the ' (VSN, Volunteer ...

after being drawn into trouble by his friend Gégé (Urly Darly), and who loses his virginity to Miki (Koumba Ball), the young woman sheltering him at her home. Fanfan is a character who frequently recurs in Laferrière's work, including the concurrent film ''

How to Conquer America in One Night ''How to Conquer America in One Night'' (french: Comment conquérir l'Amérique en une nuit) is a Canadian comedy film, directed by Dany Laferrière and released in 2004. The film centres on the relationship between Fanfan (Maka Kotto), a Haitian ...

(Comment conquérir l'Amérique en une nuit)'', which was Laferrière's own directorial debut. The film's cast also includes Mireille Metellus, Daphnée Desravines, Néhémie Dumay, Maïta Lavoie and

Maka Kotto Maka Kotto (born December 7, 1961) is a Cameroonian-born French-Canadian politician. Educated in France, Kotto immigrated to Quebec, Canada, where he was an educator before entering politics. Kotto was a Parti Québécois member of the National A ...

, as well as cameo appearances by

Dan Bigras Dan Bigras (born 23 December 1957) is a francophone rock singer and actor from Canada. He has released a number of albums of rock music, beginning with ''Ange Animal'' in 1990. He is the spokesman of ''Refuge des Jeunes de Montréal'' (meaning ...

Luck Mervil Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

and Laferrière himself in a brief introductory narration. Although set in Haiti, the film was shot primarily in

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

due to the political instability of Haiti at the time. The film premiered at the

2004 Toronto International Film Festival The 29th Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 9 through September 18. The festival screened 328 films of which 253 were features and 75 were shorts (148 of the films screened were in a language other than English). Awards No fi ...

."African cinema's moment in the sun; Continent better represented at fest than ever: Pioneering movie in Zulu among noteworthy flicks". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', September 10, 2004. It was a

Black Reel Award The Black Reel Awards, or BRAs, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) to recognize excellence of African Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the Afr ...

nominee for Outstanding Independent Film at the

Black Reel Awards of 2006 The 2006 Black Reel Awards, which annually recognize and celebrate the achievements of black people in feature, independent and television films, took place in Washington, D.C. on February 18, 2006. ''Lackawanna Blues'' swept the awards with six w ...

References

External links

* 2004 films 2004 drama films Canadian coming-of-age drama films Black Canadian films Films set in Haiti Films shot in Guadeloupe Films based on Canadian novels Films directed by John L'Ecuyer French-language Canadian films 2000s Canadian films {{2000s-Canada-film-stub