Product: Nowhere in Africa (2003)
Rating: 5.0
A New Life in Africa
Nowhere in Africa is a beautiful story regarding a secular family that is Jewish in name only. Religious Jews would not consider them as numbering among their own---but this doesn't deter Adolph Hitler from desiring their extinction. Genetics is all that matters to the Nazis. The father, Walter, a young attorney, isn't naive and realizes that he and his wife Jettel, along with their daughter Regina must leave Germany as rapidly as possible. Of all places, he opts for Kenya. The story revolves around the challenges confronting them in their new surroundings. They initially are compelled to earn their livelihood as mere tenant farmers who are despised by the British landowner. Jettel loses respect for Walter and wrongly blames him for their plight. Regina is confused but makes fast friends with the African cook Owuor. The family bond is under tremendous stress as the world war follows then even to the African wilderness. We observe Regina turning into a young lady. Will the marriage survive? Can bigotry be defeated, or at least rendered more tolerable? These are the central questions to be resolved. It is not difficult to see why Nowhere in Africa earned the 2002 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film.