In Nowhere in Africa (Nirgendwo in Afrika), a German film directed by Caroline Link, a Jewish nuclear family in Breslau, Germany, wisely exits from the country in 1938. In view of the fact that immigration opportunities were closed to Jews in the Northern Hemisphere, Walter Redlich (played by Merab Ninidze) relocates in British Kenya. He then asks his wife Jettel (played by Juliane Köhler) and daughter Regina (played at various ages by Karoline Eckertz and Lea Kurka), to join him. Other members of the Redlich family stay in Germany, and the Redlichs later learn of their fate as victims of the Holocaust. Although the family is biologically Jewish, they do not practice Judaism and have always considered themselves German. Walter is a lawyer, but the only work available in Kenya is as a manager of a small farm. In 1940, all persons in Kenya with German passports are rounded up as enemy aliens. The men are sent to a detention camp, the women and children to a posh hotel. Jettel tries to get help from longtime a Jewish resident in Nairobi, but to no avail. Then a British officer tells Jettel that a British citizen, drafted into the army, has left a farm behind with a need for a manager. Accordingly, the Redlichs go to a second farm. Next, they enroll Regina in a British boarding school. One day, an opportunity arises for Walter to fight in the war. To the chagrin of Jettel, he leaves, though she enjoys occasional male companionship with a neighbor, a gentleman named Süsskind (played by Matthias Habich). When the war ends, Walter returns. In 1946, he applies for the position of judge in the newly created German State of Hesse, as the army will pay transportation costs from Kenya to Frankfurt. After a display of emotions, Walter's wife and daughter agree to return. The story, based on the autobiographical novel by Stefanie Zweig, stresses many themes, but the most important is the concept of "difference," that is, the existence of various ethnocultural ancestries and traditions. Culture shock affects Jettel more than her husband and daughter, but in time she is transformed psychologically. One reason is that the native Kenyans prove to be exemplary hosts, from Owuor (played by Sidede Onyulo), who is their cook, to the rituals that Kenyans celebrate. However, the departure of the Redlichs for Germany means that Owuor no longer has a job, so in the end he goes on a "safari," with every expectation that he will die, thus serving as yet another paradigm in the film--about the cruelty and even Holocaust of imperialism. MH

I want to comment on this film