'The Roads Not Taken' director reveals that she was struck down by a fever following her return from New York after promoting her new film at the Berlin Film Festival.

• Sep 5, 2020

AceShowbiz - British director Sally Potter became feverish with what she believes was Covid-19 - but counts herself lucky as she lost a friend to the disease.

"The Party" filmmaker travelled to New York shortly after promoting her new film "The Roads Not Taken" at the Berlin Film Festival, but was struck down by a fever after she returned to her home in rural France.

"I spent a lot of time future-gazing," she tells The Guardian of her actions when battling illness. "You lie there wondering where you're going to end up."

The director had a "mild" version of the virus, but still took weeks to recover. She also lost someone close to her, adding that she has seen "the grief it causes."

The situation was troubling to her, having cared for her younger brother, Nic Potter, when he was diagnosed with Pick's disease - a rare early onset form of dementia in 2010.

Sally became his carer until he died in 2013 - an experience which made her question her understanding of mental health.

She adds: "I wondered: 'What if the mind that appears shut down has actually gone elsewhere? If the person is living out what they could have been or done?'."

Her latest movie, "The Roads Not Taken", which stars Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek, and Laura Linney, is out on September 11.