Das Fieber/The Fever

Written and directed by

Katharina Weingartner

Covid-19 has put the world on hold. But with malaria, which has killed more people than all other diseases and wars on Earth combined, it´s business as usual, or even worse: Deaths are expected to double due to the lockdown in African countries. Black lives apparently don't matter.

What if there was an herb that could defeat the deadly malaria parasite and save a thousand lives per day, every day? One you could grow in your backyard, which costs next to nothing, and could be easily available for everybody in need?

Sound good? Not everybody thinks so. Big pharma corporations fear for their profits. Donors like the Gates Foundation capitalize on high tech science. They prefer the old colonial ways, exploiting a continent already ravaged by poverty and death. And in the Global North nobody, including the experts at the World Health Organization, seem to believe that Africans have their own solutions.

In The Fever three East Africans reject this dispossession. They counter the spectacle of Black suffering, which Western documentaries often perpetuate and show how local solutions could save millions of lives - from malaria and possibly other pandemic diseases as well.

Protagonists

Rehema Namyalo

Richard Mukabana

Patrick Ogwang

Paul Mwamu

Tu Youyou

Quotes

»A documentary thriller that unmasks the global players in the fatal fever business.«

--KRONEN ZEITUNG

»Weingartner's film conveys optimism and hope: the source of this positive spirit is called Artemisia annua, also known as annual mugwort.«

--VORWÄRTS.DE

»The Fever is quite an excellent film. It shows the bottomless arrogance of the pharmaceutical companies, their repression of African Researchers and their greed for profit. The film is brave, clever and very useful for the fight against the terrible scourge of malaria.«

--Jean Ziegler

Press

»Über DAS FIEBER« → Austrian Films, 10/2019, Karin Schiefer

»Gespräch zwischen Martin Stöbich und Katharina Weingartner« → Diözese Linz

»Fiebersenken« → Augustin

Interview → Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Filmkritik → Kino-Zeit.de

»Malariabekämpfung als neokolonialistische Episode« → ORF Radio FM4

Filmkritik → ORF Ö1

Filmkritik → Programmkino.de

Filmkritik → Ray Filmmagazin

»Der Kampf mit dem Fieber« →Süddeutsche Zeitung

»Afrikanische Lösungen für Afrikanische Probleme« → Tiroler Tageszeitung

»Verzweiflung und Hoffnung« → Vorarlberger Nachrichten

Filmhinweis → Afrika Süd, S.2, S.47

Filmtipp → SWR2

Interview → Deutschlandfunk Corso

TV-Beitrag → Vox News

»Kulturverführung« → Forum das Wochenmagazin

»Der Kampf gegen Malaria« → Evangelisches Gemeindeblatt

»Ein afrikanischer Kampf« → Evangelische Wochenzeitung

»Artemisia annua gegen Malaria!« → Africa Positive

Radiobeitrag → Domradio

»We wanted to give a voice to the people who actually live with malaria, who fight against it, but whom nobody hears or sees.«

--KATHARINA WEINGARTNER, DIRECTOR

Info

Genre
Documentary

Country of production
Austria
Germany
Switzerland

Year of production
2019

Duration
99 min.
Color

Production format
Digital

Aspect ratio
16:9 (1,78:1)

Languages
English
Luganda
Luo
Mandarin

Language version
OmU (Original with subtitles)

Subtitles
German
English
French

For the hearing impaired
Audio description

Screening format
Blu-ray
DVD
DCP 2k

Age rating
6+

Crew

Written and directed by
Katharina Weingartner

Camera
Siri Klug

Editing
Andrea Wagner

Music
Ayub Ogada
Cinderella Sanyu

Sound
Patrick Becker
Richard Fleming

Producer
Markus Wailand

Production company
pooldoks

Distribution
W-FILM Distribution (Deutschland, Schweiz)

Production funding
Österreichisches Filminstitut (ÖFI)
ORF Film/Fernseh-Abkommen
Filmförderung Vorarlberg
Fisa Filmstandort Austria
Deutscher Filmförderfonds (DFFF)
Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA)
Zürcher Filmstiftung
Bundesamt für Kultur (BAK)

Global distribution
cine-connect