Nowhere in Africa

Nirgendwo in Afrika

Germany

2001

141 Min

Color

2.35:1

Swahili, English, German

Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
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SCR Caroline Link, Stefanie Zweig

CAST Juliane Köhler, Merab Ninidze, Sidede Onyulo, Lea Kurka, Karoline Eckertz, Gerd Heinz, Matthias Habich, Hildegard Schmahl, Maritta Horwarth, Regine Zimmermann, Andy Rashleigh

PROD DES Susann Bieling, Uwe Szielasko

MUSIC Niki Reiser

Karlovy Vary (Official Selection - Competition), Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema), AFI FEST (Made in Germany)

Synopsis

The Jewish Redlich family emigrate to Kenya in 1938. The War in Europe is imminent and the provident Walter decides to save those closest to him from its consequences. While his wife Jettel finds it hard adapting to her new life on an isolated farm, a far from romantic existence, little Regina falls in love with Africa. She befriends the native cook Owuor, she learns the language of the local inhabitants and gradually discovers the magic of the black continent. Her parents’ marriage, however, begins to show cracks, and the end of the war, during which most of their Jewish relatives have perished, places them in an absurd situation. According to the victors’ logic, as German nationals they belong to a nation who lost the war. Now Walter longs to return home, but Regina and Jettel want to stay… –Karlovy Vary

Director

Caroline Link

Caroline Link (born June 2, 1964 in Bad Nauheim, Germany), is a German film director and screenwriter. She is the daughter of Jürgen and Ilse Link. From 1986 to 1990 she studied at the Munich Academy of Film and Television (HFF), and then worked as an assistant director and script writer.

Link’s early work includes the short film Bunte Blumen, from 1988. She was a co-director on the documentary film Das Glück zum Anfassen (1989). For Bavaria Film, she wrote two screenplays to the detective series Der Fahnder (The Investigators).

Link’s first feature film, Jenseits der Stille (Beyond Silence) in 1996 was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Foreign Language Film five years before, and attracted attention for its portrayal of a family with deaf parents. Her second feature film was Annaluise and Anton (1999), based on a novel by Erich Kästner. Her third feature film, Nirgendwo in Afrika (Nowhere in Africa) in 2001… read more