THE FEVER

Directed by

Maya Da-Rin

Manaus is an industrial city surrounded by the Amazon rainforest. Justino, 45 and a native Desana, 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. A nurse at a health clinic, Vanessa is accepted to study medicine in Brasilia and will need to be leaving soon.

Confronted with the oppression of the city, where he never quite fits in, and the distance of his native village from which he left twenty years ago, Justino finds himself condemned to an existence without place. As the days go by, he 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 harbour is broken by the arrival of a new guard. Meanwhile, on television, the news talks about a wild animal lurking in the neighbourhood.

Best Actor and Fipresci Prize at Locarno 2019

TIFF 2019

The Fever, Da-Rin’s first fiction feature, was selected by La Cinéfondation in Cannes The Fever gained a Script and Project Development grant from the Hubert Bals Fund.

About Maya Da-Rin

Brazilian filmmaker and visual artist Maya Da-Rin studied Design and Philosophy of Art at the Pontifical Catholic University. In 2010 she enrolled in the Cinema and Visual Arts programme at Le Fresnoy. By then she had already garnered attention for her documentaries Margem/Margin (2007) and Terras/Lands (2009), both shot in the Amazon region. In 2016 she obtained a master’s degree in Cinema and Art History at Sorbonne Nouvelle. Her films and video installations have been shown and awarded at film festivals and art institutions such as Locarno, DOK Leipzig and MoMA.

In cinemas and on demand 6 August

ICA, London (from 6 August)

Curzon Bloomsbury, London (from 6 August)

Watershed, Bristol (from 6 August)

Showroom, Sheffield (from 6 August)

HOME, Manchester (from 6 August)

Filmhouse, Edinburgh (from 6 August)

Chapter, Cardiff (from 6 August)

Broadway, Nottingham (from 23 August)

Cine Lumiere, London (from 25 August)

MAC Birmingham (from 28 August)

Firstsite, Colchester (1 September for one day only)