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CineMAfriq Film Series

An archive and resource for films discussed as part of the BU African Studies Libraries' CineMAfriq Film Series.

Nowhere in Africa (Kenya, 2001)

Award-winning true tale of a Jewish family who fled the Nazi regime in 1938 and learned to cope with their new life, and each other, on a remote farm in Kenya.                                                                                                                                                                              (In German and Swahili and English; English subtitles)

(142 minutes)

Discussion Questions

  1. What are your overall impressions of this film? Did you like it? Why or why not?

  2. Was there a message to this film? If so, what was it?

  3. What was the overall tone of the film? Bleak, hopeful, both? 

  4. KiSwahili learners/speakers: Thoughts on use of language? Any cultural or language cues that non-speakers might have missed?

  5. Can you think of situations where outsiders came to Africa seeking a place of refuge? Examples or thoughts about this dynamic? 

  6. This film may be called "Nowhere in Africa", but what can you say about the specifics of the place and time in which the film is set? 

  7. What are your thoughts about how each member of the family processed trauma and culture shock? 

Characters (for reference)