Kein Himmel über Afrika is a two-part German drama based on a true story which took place in Africa some years ago.
It was shown on German television (ARD) and released on DVD in 2005.
Here is some basic information about it:
** Directed by Roland Suso Richter
** Screenplay written by Richard Reitinger & Heiko Schier
** Based on a book by Kerstin Cameron
** Language: German – no English subtitles!
** Run time: 87 + 89 minutes = 176 minutes
The cast includes the following:
The first group
** Veronica Ferres as Catherine Coburn
** Jean-Hugues Anglade as Gordon Coburn – a pilot – Catherine’s second husband
** Enrico Mutti as Roberto – a hunter – Catherine’s first husband
** Michaela Rosen as Megan – a pilot - Catherine’s friend
** Matthias Habich as Richard – Catherine’s father
** Elisabeth Trissenaar as Ingrid – Catherine’s mother
The second group
** Götz George (1938-2016) as Larry – Gordon’s friend
** Katharina Meinecke as Helen Alistair – Gordon’s friend
** Pierre Vaneck as Ian Coburn – Gordon’s father
** Catherine Sola as Margaret Coburn – Gordon’s mother
** Nikolai Kinski as Duncan Coburn – Gordon’s brother
** Shannon Hochfelden as Emily – Catherine & Gordon’s daughter
As stated above, this drama is based on a true story, which took place in Africa. To be more precise in Tanzania.
The story covers ten years (1991-2001). The main character is Catherine, or Katharina, a German woman, who was born in 1961, and whose real name is Kerstin Cameron.
The drama is based on her book Kein Himmel über Afrika, which was published in 2003.
Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. This is why I feel free to mention some of them here.
While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here.
Some details may have been altered, added or excluded for dramatic reasons or practical purposes. But the basic story is true.
Catherine is a German woman, who lives in Tanzania with her husband Roberto, who is from Italy. Roberto is a hunter, who arranges hunting trips – safaris – for rich people who come to Africa to kill wild animals.
Catherine is not happy with this life. She prefers taking photos of the wild animals, rather than shooting them with a rifle.
One day she meets Gordon Coburn, who is from New Zealand (and whose real name is Clifton Cameron). Gordon is a pilot, and he is nothing like Roberto.
He has a different approach to life. He falls for Catherine, and she falls for him.
Catherine divorces Roberto (her first husband) and marries Gordon (her second husband).
The new couple buys
a farm where they plan to grow flowers for export to Europe. At first, life is
going well for them. But the good life does not last.
There are some warning signs, some red flags, but Catherine ignores them. Soon, she can no longer ignore them: things begin to go wrong.
Gordon is not happy as a farmer, because he is a pilot. He starts to drink, and now things go from bad to worse.
One night the couple is in a heated argument and a fight. A shot is fired and Gordon lies dead on the bed.
What happened?
At first, the police regard this as a suicide. But Gordon’s family cannot believe that Gordon would kill himself. They start their own investigation and before long Catherine is arrested.
She is charged with killing Gordon. She ends up in prison, waiting for her trial. Things are not looking good for her.
How is this going to end?
Is she going to hang for murder?
This is the end of my presentation.
What do reviewers say about this drama?
On IMDb it has a rating of 50 per cent.
On Amazon Germany there are at the moment 32 ratings of this product, including 16 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.2 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 82 percent.
If you ask me, the first rating is too low, while the second rating is more appropriate.
Why?
I have three reasons:
# 1. The script is well written and the actors play their roles well.
# 2. The story is captivating, dramatic, and emotional.
# 3. The drama is based on a true story.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
PS # 1. Roland Suso Richter (born 1961) is the director of several movies, including the following:
** The Tunnel (2001)
** Dresden (2006)
** Grzimek (2015)
PS # 2. Veronica Ferres is a German actress who has appeared in several television movies, including Die Frau vom Checkpoint Charlie (2007) and Hafen der Düfte (2013).
*****
Kein Himmel über Afrika:
Eine Frau kämpft um ihre Freiheit
by Kerstin Cameron
(2003)
*****
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