Description

Manaus is an industrial city surrounded by the Amazon rainforest. Justino, a 45 years old Desana native, works as a security guard at the cargo port. Since the death of his wife, his main company is his youngest daughter with whom he lives in a modest house on the outskirts of town. Nurse at a health clinic, Vanessa is accepted to study medicine in Brasilia and will need to be leaving soon.

As the days go by, Justino is overcome by a strong fever. During the night, a mysterious creature follows his footsteps. During the day, he fights to stay awake at work. But soon the tedious routine of the harbor is broken by the arrival of a new guard. Meanwhile, his brother’s visit makes Justino remember the life in the forest, from where he left twenty years ago. Between the oppression of the city and the distance of his native village, Justino can no longer endure an existence without place.

Reviews

“This is an entrancing film, orphaned by an unspeakable longing for a place–a whole world–that will never return.”
—The Film Stage

“Rin avoids the simple or straightforward ethnographic gaze of an outsider by illuminating the community’s traditions and ancestry obliquely, rather than casting an actor to perform the character.”

—BFI

“Delicate and dangerous, much like nature itself, The Fever is testament to Maya Da-Rin’s extraordinary ability to dig down deep into the lives of her protagonists (people/characters), listening with interest to what they have to say before transposing it all into images.”

—Cineuropa

“The Fever is a timely document about the cultural dangers of progress, and a reminder that our Western ways are not the only possibility.”

—ICS

Festivals

Locarno Film Festival, International Competition

-Best Actor, FIPRESCI International Critics Award for Best Film, “Environment is Quality of Life” Award

Toronto International Film Festival

Pingyao International Film Festival

-Best Film

Chicago International Film Festival

-Best Direction

Thessaloniki International Film Festival