This German film won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.  This movie has an original and different take on the often told story about German jews and the Nazis during the war.  And while this film is well done with lot of great scenic shots of Africa, I still hold that Talk to Her was the best foreign film of last year and why Spain didn't nominate it as their entry to the Academy Awards is beyond belief.  But getting back to Nowhere in Africa, I was captivated by the story throughout the film and so I will give this one a fairly strong recommendation based on it's original storytelling and interesting characters.

      The story opens up where we find Jettel and her daughter Regine in Germany at the beginning of the period where the Jewish people in Germany were losing their jobs and finding their lives being shattered by the Nazis.  Jettel's husband Walter is a German lawyer but he has already left the country, waiting for the day where he can afford to bring both Jettel and Regine to Kenya where he is now managing a cattle farm.  Eventually the wife and daughter manage to leave Germany and link up with Walter in Africa.  At the outset, Jettle hates being there as she longs for the rich and comfortable life she had back in Germany.  Walter on the other hand seems to find living in Africa a rich and rewarding adventure.  And Regine seems to be happy, if not a lost kid among strangers, living in this new land.  However, as time goes by, the situation reverses itself as Walter wants to return to Germany after the war to become a judge but Jettle has now become to love this alien country she finds herself in and has reservations about going back.

      Probably above all else, the original story and cinematography are what makes this movie one to see.  And this is not to ignore the find acting all around.  It's just so refreshing to see a film where the basic premise has been done millions of times before, but yet has a new and original aspect to the story.  The actress who plays Jettle is a standout in this film as she convincingly portrays a wife and mother who hates where she is at first, but then slowly realizes what a rich and wonderful life she has in Africa for not only for herself but for her daughter.  One other aspect of the story which is most entertaining is the relationship between the young girl and the cook Onyulo.  Onyulo pretty much becomes the daughter's surrogate father because Walter seems to never really want to have much to do with his own kid. Onyulo is a wise man who ends up teaching this German family more about life than they would ever have learned in Germany.

      So maybe the film isn't as powerful as it could have been but it is still a moving and interesting picture.  I easily recommend it for anybody who craves to see something different at the theatre.  Put aside your distaste for subtitles and go have a good time seeing this film.