| PRODUCTION
NOTES
NOWHERE
IN AFRICA was shot on location in Germany, Kenya and the North Sea
from January through April 2001. The following was written by the
producer Peter Herrmann.
 In
1995 I came across Stephanie Zweig's autobiographical novel NIRGENDWO
IN AFRIKA. In her novel, she tells the story—from an adult
perspective as a journalist living in Frankfurt—of her family's
fleeing the Nazis to settle in Kenya when she was a child. In Kenya
they try to start a new life but finally return to Germany after
the war. I bought the rights to the novel before it became a bestseller.
In 1998 Caroline Link agreed to write the screenplay and direct
the film. In early 1999 the two of us traveled to Kenya for the
first time to see the original locations.
Caroline
Link and I knew that Kenya as a place of movie production would
be more difficult, complex, riskier and definitely more strenuous
than other locations in Africa (like South Africa). Nevertheless
we opted for Kenya.We were sure that the film would be more authentic,
atmospheric and better if we shot close to the original locations.
The pre-production period started in spring 2000. In August we opened
a pre-production office in Nairobi and six months prior to the scheduled
production, the concrete preparations began.
In
the summer of 2000 a drought of possibly catastrophic dimensions
developed. Spring, the rainy season, had not brought any rain. If
it didn't rain in Fall, the short rainy season, Kenya's population
would face a catastrophe. In August, international relief organizations
started to send food to the hardest hit regions, especially to North
Kenya. The Nomads of the North, the Turkana, Pokots, Nijem and the
Massai were hardest hit by the drought. Even in Nairobi, the crisis
was felt. The entire city was filled with Massai and their flocks.
The animals were feeding on the sad remains of the few plants still
growing along the streets. Nairobi was on the brink of disaster.We
had already invested too much to turn back, and wouldn't be able
to relocate.
It
didn't rain until November. By then we had already started the construction
of the farm houses and planted artificially irrigated corn fields.We
had already put our trust in the gods of Africa that they would
look favorably upon the country and upon our film. Rongai was the
location of the Redlich's first farm. According to Caroline's vision
it should be an arid and almost desert-like landscape. On screen
it should come across as impressive but also such an inhospitable
and bleak place that the audience should understand Jettel when
she says "but one cannot really live here."
In
Lolldaiga, located northwest of Mount Kenya, we had found an ideal
setting. It posed a real problem though, since there were no accomodations.
The only solution was to build a camp.We had 86 tents, not only
to accomodate the team of 100 but also to house the make-up department,
the costume department, and the production office, the set design
department and the catering. There was also a restaurant tent and
a bar tent. It was literally a small tent town. As there were elephants
and lions close to the camp, we could only walk outside when accompanied
by one of the guards.
Ol
Joro Orok was the location for the second segment of filming which
took another three weeks. While Rongai gave the impression of desert
and arid landscape, the second main setting, Ol Joro Orok, was supposed
to look lush and fertile. In a flat valley, on top of a small riverbed,
Susann Bieling and Uwe Szielasko had built an antiquelooking farmhouse.
Ol Joro Orok looks magical on film, and we filmed all the scenes
around the farmhouse. The scenes in the fields and in the village
were filmed in Mukutani, the third main setting of the movie.
Before
we could go to the third main setting we still had to shoot two
other settings that were rather difficult: Hotel Norfolk and Street
Nairobi. These scenes featured a large number of historically dressed
extras. Some shots required up to 200 extras. Our makeup artists
needed to be supported by five extra make-up artists from Germany
who knew how to style European hairdos from the 1940s. In order
to keep costs low, we organized a small sewing shop in Nairobi,
and we were able to make most of our costumes there.
The
third main setting, Mukutani, is a community located 40 km northeast
of Lake Baringo. We spotted the location from an airplane.We worked
with bulldozers to build a road, which would permit trucks loaded
with lighting equipment, staging materials, generators, water and
gasoline to pass. For possible emergencies a runway for planes was
constructed. There are approximately 700 people living in Mukutami,
mostly Pokot and NJem, many of whom had never seen a white person
before. After long discussions, the village Board of Elders agreed
to the filming. The experiences we had filming in Mukutani led us
to found an organization in Germany which raises funds to support
the village. The money will be used to build and maintain an ambulatory
facility and to continue the construction of the road.
Filming
in Mukutani proved to be the greatest challenge.We planted cornfields
that had to have three different grades of maturity during the shoot.
In order to show on screen that time had elapsed we had to have
young, low corn plants, green corn plants and the mature yellow
corn plants. One of the highlights of the movie, the attack/plague
of the locusts was filmed in the field of ripe corn. The first seeds
had already been sown in November so that there would be ripe corn
in March. To supervise the growth of the corn we had a 'corn commissioner'
who traveled once a week 100 km. from Nakuru to Mukutani.
The
second high point was the night ceremony of the Pokots in which
Regina and Jettel take part in the film. More than 400 Pokots dressed
in their traditional robes acted in it. Nairobi was the location
for the last 3 weeks of production. Settings were the train station
in Nairobi, the internment camp and the British barracks. Despite
many unforseen events—a robbery, many mishaps and illnesses—we
wrapped when we had scheduled, the Thursday before Easter.
This
was made possible by the incredible achievements of the entire team,
plus the Kenyans, who put so much into the film.
 AN
INTERVIEW WITH CAROLINE LINK
In
her novel, Stefanie Zweig tells the story of her own childhood from
the perspective of herself as a child. What aspect did you focus
on in the film?
In
my version of the story I concentrate very much on the relationship
of the parents, their love for each other. They suddenly find themselves
in difficult circumstances; their love falters and must be re-found.
Stefanie Zweig tells the story from the perspective of a child.
She describes her own experiences and memories. But for me, Regina's
mother Jettel is the most exciting character. What is most fascinating
is her development into an independent and mature woman, who not
only has to rethink her own position and priorities in life but
also her relationship towards her family.
Why
did you choose Juliane Kohler and Merab Ninidze as your lead actors?
Juliane
is enormously versatile. During rehearsals I was immediately impressed
by her performance as a capricious daughter from a privileged home,
as well as her transformation into a mature and serious person.
Juliane manages to show how deracinated Jettel feels in the African
savanna and how, in the course of the story, she is able to make
the country her own. For her husband Walter I was looking for a
male actor who could hold his own opposite this highly energetic
female character. In a far more subtle and thoughtful way he should
maintain his ease and quiet strength. For me, Merab radiates this
ease and intelligence, without seeming to be boring or even humorless.
In
spite of the lack of infrastructure you made a conscious decision
to shoot in Kenya and not in South Africa. Why?
Peter
Herrmann and I agreed from the very beginning that we should have
African actors and extras in our movie who actually come from those
areas which are featured in our story. I don't think it's a good
idea to dress up Zulus as Masaii or vice versa. Those details have
to be true because, after all, the people tell much about their
country and lend a special atmosphere and sense of place to the
film. It's not something you can simply recreate. Even if the shooting
itself is difficult, that in itself is no argument for sacrificing
verisimilitude.
What
impressed you most about Kenya?
Particularly
the landscape! The expanse, the variety of nature! We searched for
almost all of our locations north of Nairobi, away from the tourist
areas. The landscape changes enormously, ranging from voluptuously
green coffee and tea plantations and forests, to arid savannas,
rolling hills, lake districts, and the gigantic Rift Valley. And
then there are incredibly ugly cities, dilapidated villages, unspeakable
poverty. When we first visited the country, there had been a catastrophic
drought for three years already. And yet, in spite of everything,
the people were so friendly, laughing, giggling. Such joy of life!
That really impressed me.
Did
you create the rituals for the movie or did you participate in real
ceremonies?
We
did film real ceremonies. Authenticity was very important to us.
The rain ceremony of the Kikuyu council of elders really lasted
for hours, though, and so we had to cut most of it. The same goes
for the savanna ceremony of the Pokot, during which Jettel and Regina
walk into the night. That's really a rite of passage for young men
of a specific age group. The only thing we influenced were the clothes.
Nowadays the young men also wear T-shirts and colorful shirts, of
course.
How
great was the temptation to allow such a grand scenery more space
than you'd actually planned?
I always
wanted the landscape in which our story is situated to portray itself,
if you will. I didn't want to use a neon marker and say: Look here!
We're making a movie with awesome landscapes and spectacular shots
of safaris! Everyone's seen that a hundred times already. Even on
TV, in the afternoon shows. After all, my story is about an involuntary
escape from the beloved home country. It's not about some great
adventure trip to paradise. I always wanted the viewers to slowly
fall in love with this alien world, just like my protagonists. And
at the outset this world is dusty, uninviting and rough.
Looking
back to those exciting days, would you plunge into such an adventure
again, such a lavish project abroad?
Absolutely.
I love to travel and to learn about the country away from the typical
tourist venues. The shooting itself was extremely well organized
and prepared by the production company MTM. That's also because
Peter Herrmann, the producer, is an ethnologist by training and
knows his way around Africa very well. At no time did I have the
feeling that we were in any real danger or perhaps acted thoughtlessly.
It was always fun to meet the people during the shooting - which,
of course, created quite a stir - and to get to know them intensively.
However, sometimes I regretted not having more time to simply enjoy
the moment, to observe and let matters run their own course. As
a director you're always under pressure, you interfere and want
to carve a story from the country and its people. That's quite onerous
sometimes.
|
