One family's tale of a homeland lost... and a homeland found.
Overview
A Jewish woman named Jettel Redlich flees Nazi Germany with her daughter Regina, to join her husband, Walter, on a farm in Kenya. At first, Jettel refuses to adjust to her new circumstances, bringing with her a set of china dishes and an evening gown. While Regina adapts readily to this new world, forming a strong bond with her father's cook, an African named Owuor.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.9/10
IMDb: 7.5/10
Letterboxd: 3.60/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
Metacritic: 72
TMDB: 7.1/10
Director
Caroline Link
Production
Media Cooperation One, MTM Cineteve, Bavaria Film, Constantin Film
Cast
Juliane Köhler, Merab Ninidze, Sidede Onyulo, Matthias Habich, Lea Kurka, Karoline Eckertz, Gerd Heinz, Hildegard Schmahl, Maritta Horwarth, Regine Zimmermann, Marian Lösch, Gabrielle Odinis, Bettina Redlich, Julia Leidl, Mechthild Großmann, Bela Klentze, Peter Lenaeku, Silas Kerati, Kanyaman, Andy Rashleigh
Where to watch
Chai Flicks, Kino Film Collection
Curator Review
Verdict
A thoughtful, gently observed historical drama about exile, adaptation, and the uneven ways family members survive displacement. It’s especially rewarding if you value patient character work, vivid location detail, and a story that treats cultural encounter with more nuance than a standard prestige adventure.
Best for
viewers interested in WWII-era exile stories
fans of intimate, character-driven historical dramas
people drawn to African-set films with strong sense of place
audiences who like slow-burn emotional storytelling
Skip if
you want a fast-moving war film
you prefer tightly plotted dramas with little domestic detail
you are looking for a Holocaust film centered on camps or combat
you dislike long, reflective period pieces
Overview
Nowhere in Africa is less interested in spectacle than in the daily negotiations of survival: language, work, pride, homesickness, and the awkward reshaping of a family under pressure. That focus gives the film a quiet emotional pull, especially as Regina adapts more quickly than her parents and the household’s emotional center shifts in unexpected ways.
Worth noting
The Kenyan setting is not just backdrop; it changes the film’s rhythm, its moral perspective, and the family’s idea of what home can mean. Caroline Link’s direction is patient and observant, and the film largely earns that patience through strong performances and a careful attention to lived-in detail.
Bottom line
It can feel a little expansive and occasionally overlong, but the best stretches are deeply affecting. What lingers is its restraint: a refugee story that avoids easy sentiment and instead finds dignity in compromise, endurance, and the imperfect bonds that keep people going.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Martin (4.5★) · 26 likes
Absolutely stunning. All of these story threads - really, a lifetime of them - are given such delicate treatment. It could so easily tip into melodrama, or worse in the tradition of films about outsiders in Africa. But it's just great.
cassandras_view (3.5★) · 19 likes
Caroline Link beschreibt in "Nirgendwo in Afrika“ (dt.Titel) die Geschichte einer jüdischen Emigrantenfamilie, nach einer autobiografischen Erzählung von Stefanie Zweig, die noch rechtzeitig vor den Nazis entkommen und nach Kenia auswandern konnte, im Glauben, dass dieses "Exil" wohl nur 1-2 Jahre andauern würde.
Der pragmatische ehemalige Anwalt Walter Redlich (Merab Ninidze) reist im Jahr 1937 nach Kenia, findet eine Stellung als Verwalter einer britischen Farm und lässt seine Frau Jettl (Juliane Köhler) und seine kleine Tochter Regine (Lea Kurka) nachkommen.… more
Fred Kolb (3.5★) · 18 likes
“Nowhere in Africa”, as the title implies, has quite a bit in common with Sydney Pollack’s “Out of Africa”, namely a European woman of means joining her husband on his farm in Kenya and after much reluctance eventually warming up to the country and its culture. They have similar deficits, chiefly a sometimes unearned lack of brevity and considerable pacing issues, but I actually prefer this one on the whole. The German winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar… more “Nowhere in Africa”, as the title implies, has quite a bit in common with Sydney Pollack’s “Out of Africa”, namely a European woman of means joining her husband on his farm in Kenya and after much reluctance eventually warming up to the country and its culture. They have similar deficits, chiefly a sometimes unearned lack of brevity and considerable pacing issues, but I actually prefer this one on the whole. The German winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar… more
OlaKozel (4★) · 13 likes
Jewish family escapes from Nazi Germany to find refuge in Kenya. They leave their loved ones and their comfortable life behind. The price of survival is starting over, working hard on a farm, missing their relatives. Their new life in Kenya is a constant struggle, and while little Regina soon adapts to the new environment, her parents' marriage goes through hard times.
This is not a film about Holocaust although the tragedy of Jewish people serves as a potent backdrop.… more
Pretentious Film Critic (5★) · 12 likes
I do not know what it meansThat I should feel so sad;There is a tale from olden timesI cannot get out of my mind.
The air is cool, and twilight falls,And the Rhine flows quietly by;The summit of the mountains glittersIn the evening sun.
The fairest maiden is sittingIn wondrous beauty up there,Her golden jewels are sparkling,She combs her golden hair.
She combs it with a golden combAnd sings a… more
1970 · Drama, History · 1h 35m · R · Curator 6.3/10 (17.8K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
An elegant, melancholy story of Jewish life under the shadow of fascism, with a similar blend of intimacy and historical dread.