Bad Fever

USA 2011; R: Dustin Guy Defa; mit Kentucker Audley, Eléonore Hendricks; HDCam, 77 Minuten, OV – Internationale Premiere

SA 7.1. 19:30 – DO 12.1. 20:00

Eddie, einsam und geschlagen mit einer ausgesprochenen Humorlosigkeit, versucht die Aufmerksamkeit und Zuneigung einer jungen Frau zu gewinnen, die plötzlich in seinem Leben auftaucht. Zwar beginnt Irene ihre gemeinsamen Momente mit einer alten Videokamera zu filmen, doch hält sie Eddie auf Distanz und treibt ihn damit in die Verzweiflung. Um seine wahren Gefühle für sie auszudrücken, beschliesst Eddie in einem kleinen Klub – und ausgerechnet als Stand-up-Komödiant – aufzutreten.

Eddie is unable to love people because he doesn‘t have any sort of clarity about himself. All he has are faint ideas about who he is, or who he hopes to become, and those ideas aren‘t even his own. He‘s picked them up over the years from television and movies and observing other people, especially men, and how other men treat women. He wants Irene to like him, and he wants to like Irene, but it‘s a bridge too long to cross, a wall built up too high.
For me, making this film has been a reawakening to people and to the sheer joy of filmmaking. It‘s been about finally getting around to dealing with the parts of me that are Eddie and the parts that are Irene, and getting to know those parts of myself a little more. To me, the title BAD FEVER means the desperation to express oneself. It‘s an attempt to just say, I‘m okay right now. (Dustin Guy Defa)