Sleeping Sickness

Ebbo Velten, Pierre Bokma, works in Cameroon on a sleeping sickness aid project and lives with his wife, Vera, Jenny Schily. Their daughter, Helen Velten, Maria Elise Miller, usually attends a boarding school in Wetzlar, Germany, but visits them. There are few patients, though European aid remains generous, and Velten’s family plans to move back to Europe while he stays behind to continue the work.

Three years later, World Health Organization inspector Alex Nzila, Jean-Christophe Folly, arrives to assess the programme. Before he reaches the clinic there is friction with local people who fear over-paying or being robbed. On arrival at the clinic Velten cannot be found. A woman in the clinic goes into obstructed labour requiring a Caesarean section. 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, creating tension with the family.

Velten then shows the inspector the sleeping sickness clinics; no cases have been reported. He also 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 to rescue the inspector. A hippopotamus emerges in a mysterious way from the jungle. Earlier in the film someone had emphasized how rare hippos were on that part of the river. Velten (I have to believe in metamorphoses) seems to be dead; however, the truth is left unspoken.

I have to believe in metamorphoses.

Last Updated: November 22, 2025 at 15:59