Wuchak Released in 2001 and directed by Caroline Link from the autobiographical novel by Stefanie Zweig, "Nowhere in Africa" chronicles life in Kenya during World War II centering around a Jewish couple (Juliane Köhler and Merab Ninidze) and their daughter (Lea Kurka and, later, Karoline Eckertz). Matthias Habich plays a fellow Jew living in Kenya who assists them while Sidede Onyulo plays their Kenyan cook, who becomes a sort-of foster father to the girl.This is a German film with only a handful of lines in English, which means you'll have to use the subtitles if English is your primary language. Like "Out of Africa" (1985), "Nowhere in Africa" is a historical drama brimming with cinematic confidence and thoroughly convincing. The difference is that the more popular earlier film focuses on colonial Kenya during WWI while this one takes place during WWII.The couple has an interesting story arc and I liked the emphasis on Native Kenyan culture. Watching it, you're swept back in time to WWII-era Kenya. There are some slow parts, but that's the nature of the beast. If you want cartoony jungle action, like "Predator," "Nowhere in Africa" won't work; but if you want realistic historical drama akin to "Out of Africa," it expertly fills the bill. While not as good as either, "I Dreamed of Africa" (2001) is an interesting companion piece, taking place in post-colonial Kenya during the 70s.The film runs 141 minutes and was shot in Kenya and Germany.GRADE: B

kenjha A Jewish family flees Nazi Germany for Kenya but must adapt to the foreign land as well as the changing dynamics of their relationships. This German film is beautifully photographed under the direction of Link, although her camera is at times unnecessarily frisky. The acting is solid: Kohler as the woman who resents Africa initially but comes to appreciate it, Ninidze as her conflicted husband, and Onyulo as an African cook that the family becomes attached to. Kurka and Eckertz are also effective as the couple's daughter. The film does a good job of conveying the tension in the marriage as Kohler and Ninidze each tries to cope with the hardships.

mightyeye This is probably the best film I've seen for a long time, it is also splendid for its interpretation of Africans as people, real people with emotions, traditions and hopes unlike so many other movies which regard them as part of the scenery. As for the scenery,indeed for those of us who have lived in Kenya we witness good camera movement.Based on the autobiographical novel by Stefanie Zweig, "Nowhere in Africa" it charts the ups and downs of the Redlich family a German Jewish family seeking refuge in a British ruled Kenya of which its officials were tainted with a small dose of anti-Semitism, but nevertheless was able to offer a few Jewish families shelter from the Nazi madness in Germany.The acting is splendid, the production led by Caroline Link is marvellous. The use of Swahili, German and English seemed to flow naturally and kept the magic of reality. The leading characters in the story develop and change, become rounded. This is a film worth seeing and most of all go and read the book by Stefanie Zweig.

ftt "Nowhere in Africa" is truly a candidate for being the most overrated German film ever made. It is obvious that it only won the Oscar for dealing with the Holocaust topic. After having heard about the positive acclaim for the movie I was enthusiastic about watching it but got terribly disappointed. This movie has absolutely no climax, not to mention any key sequences. I second the opinion of another reviewer that each scene seems to have been filmed for itself without any connection to the others. The two main characters playing the Jewish couple were in my opinion miscast and Caroline Link's wooden direction doesn't allow any emotional movements. This all makes the movie a pointless mess without a single memorable moment. A soap opera director couldn't have made it worse than Link did. Being German myself, I'm probably supposed to like this movie... but I don't. A German movie that really would have deserved the Academy Award for best foreign film was "Schtonk", a truly brilliant satire. But there are also many other new German films which are much superior to this one. I believe that 3 stars out of 10 is a fair rating.