''Sleeping Sickness'' (german: Schlafkrankheit) is a 2011 German drama film, directed by . It premiered in competition at the

61st Berlin International Film Festival The 61st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 February 2011, with actress Isabella Rossellini as the President of the Jury. The Coen Brothers film ''True Grit'' opened the festival. 300,000 tickets were sold in total ...

, where Köhler won the

Silver Bear for Best Director The Silver Bear for Best Director (german: Silberner Bär/Bester Regie) is an award presented annually at the Berlin International Film Festival since 1956. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury ...

Plot

Ebbo Velten works in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

in a

sleeping sickness African trypanosomiasis, also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. It is caused by the species ''Trypanosoma brucei''. Humans are infected by two typ ...

aid project living with his wife, Vera. Their daughter, Helen, usually attending a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

, Germany, visits them. There are few patients although the European financial aid is generous. Velten's family move back to Europe but he stays. Three years later,

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

inspector Alex Nzila visits to assess the programme. Before he reaches the clinic there is friction with local people because he fears over-paying or being robbed. On arrival at the clinic Velten cannot be found. A woman in the clinic goes into an obstructed labour requiring a

Caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or mo ...

. Velten arrives just in time to perform the operation and deliver the baby. The baby girl is his, from his relationship with the mother. Soon the woman's relatives arrive to celebrate the birth. Velten brusquely refuses to give the woman's brother money when his 'father-in-law' asks him to help. This causes tension with the family. Velten then takes the inspector to see sleeping sickness clinics; no cases have been reported. Velten takes the inspector to see a tourist venture. Later Velten, with an acquaintance and a guide, takes the inspector night-hunting with guns and spotlights. The acquaintance has an argument with Velten and leaves. Velten and the guide continue hunting while the inspector sleeps. He is woken by a gunshot; the guide returns without Velten, takes the inspector to the river and leaves. In the morning the guide returns in a dugout

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

to rescue the inspector. A

hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

emerges in a mysterious way from the jungle. Earlier in the film someone had emphasised how rare hippos were on that part of the river. Velten (″''I have to believe in

metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the wo ...

''″) seems to be dead; however, the truth is left unspoken.

Cast

Pierre Bokma Pierre Henri Martin Bokma (born 20 December 1955 in Paris) is a Dutch Stage (theatre), stage, television and film actor. Bokma received his professional training at the Maastricht Academy of Dramatic Arts. In November 2007 he won an Internation ...

as Ebbo Velten * Jean-Christophe Folly as Alex Nzila *

Hippolyte Girardot Hippolyte Girardot (born Frédéric Girardot; 10 October 1955) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He is the father of actress Ana Girardot. Selected filmography * 1973: '' La Femme de Jean'', directed by Yannick Bellon, Rémi ...

as Gaspard Signac *

Sava Lolov The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina ...

as Elia Todorov * Maria Elise Miller as Helen Velten * Francis Noukiatchom as Monese * Ali Mvondo Roland as Ruhemba *

Jenny Schily Jenny Rosa Schily (born 14 May 1967) is a German actress who primarily works in theater and film. She has also performed in radio plays. Life Schily was born in West Berlin, the daughter of lawyer and politician Otto Schily and his first wife, ...

as Vera Velten * Isacar Yinkou as Joseph

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sleeping Sickness 2011 films 2011 drama films Films about infectious diseases Films set in Cameroon German drama films 2010s German-language films 2010s French-language films 2011 multilingual films German multilingual films 2010s German films