Opening 27 Feb 2025
Directed by:
Timo Götz, Salima Oudefel
Writing credits:
Timo Götz, Salima Oudefel
Auf Umwegen is a travel documentary that follows the adventures, car rides, new friends, scenery, amazement, and challenges of a German family on an extraordinary journey. What I found unique was that they not only chose to travel to “lesser travelled” countries like Iran, Pakistan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and India, but they took along their two young daughters. A highlight of this film that most travel documentaries do not have, is that on the journey a third daughter is born, and that brings unique trials (an unwanted extension, stress, and uncertainty) with it. The suspense of the film is the challenges that the family faces when working with the Indian bureaucracy to obtain an exit visa for their newborn daughter who was born in India. While I understand the experience was real-life for the family and I am glad they were able to leave India, I do appreciate seeing a story that was not all pretty scenes and happy tuktuk rides. Auf Umwegen is a film that highlights the scariness of the unknown and leaving the security of your own country. At multiple moments in the film the travel decisions made by the parents were not the “safe” ones and these gave me a little shock and worry and hope that all would turn out right. From a very pregnant Salima riding in bumpy night time buses in India to the decision to drive the family around in a van in India and Nepal (agh!).
The filming style catches the eye with stunning landscapes from a drone perspective and also the bumpy and gritty riding in the passenger seat perspective. Throughout the film the viewer sees the two girls growing taller and of course the life changing experiences. Timo Götz and Salima Oudefel are the parents and narrators and their calm attitude in some of the travel situations astounded me.
I wish we would have heard more extensive dialogue from the travelling family. More on their feelings and their observations during the travels. There are a few scenes where the viewer hears what is exciting for the two young girls. I would have enjoyed hearing more about their likes and dislikes and perspectives as children on such a journey. From a person who has travelled in some of these countries and has children I can only imagine how exhausting, frustrating and at times scary some of the days were, but Timo and Salima did a wonderful job in the film showing the benefits of their travels and highlighting the connections they made along the way. What drew me to this film was the idea that a family had made this unorthodox travel adventure, something that I hope to be brave enough to do in perhaps one country that they made it to. They can be proud of their bravery, their problem solving, and the opportunity that they gave their family. I hope there are more adventures to view from this family in the future. (Shanan Rickert)