Silver Bear winner Ulrich Köhler deserves many future kudos for his feature film Sleeping Sickness. The film balances beautifully captured scenes and characters with just the right amount of political query: is foreign aid helpful to its recipients, or does a lack of accountability for the tax collectors ease their burden of accountability? This cycle has been discussed extensively by one of my favorite economists, William Easterly. However, it is surprising to find it so well considered in a narrative feature film.
Is African aid just an extension of EU and US imperialism? Maybe. I will leave that conversation to the economists. What I take interest in is how intimate and personal this film feels throughout. Each character exists with a purpose for the dramatic structure, which some might have difficulty articulating right after exiting the theater, but which I assure you is the foundation upon which this fine piece of cinema builds its beauty. But this purpose does not define the characters. Each actor that graces the screen brings the utmost nuance and idiosyncrasy to their performance, clearly enhanced by a skilled director. The film is brave to have its characters resist the obvious and yet does not define itself by abiding entirely by this rule.
If anything in the world is complicated it is the international aid situation in Africa. Sleeping Sickness is a beautiful film and merits your attention for its aesthetics and honesty. Above and beyond that, it warrants respect for treating this material with the complexity it deserves, never answering questions, but instead provoking thought.
