Film Review: Kiez to Cape of Good Hope
by Birgit Schrumpf

Kay Amtenbrink and Bernd Volkens, two young men from Hamburg, decided – after some beers and encouragement from friends – to travel the 18,500 km overland from Hamburg to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa in time for the Soccer World Cup. Both are fans of the FC St. Pauli and were adamant to follow their team’s pending qualification on TV during the trip. This turned out to be wishful thinking. Electric power is not a given when travelling the “black” continent. Alas, it was not meant to be. Soon enough they had other problems. On their route from Ethiopia to Kenya the sturdy VW “Bully” hardly made it through knee-deep muddy waters during an awesome river crossing. The next disaster followed: a burned-out motor! Would this be the end of the journey, giving up 160 km before Nairobi?

Director Joachim Bornemann wrote the script, handed the two protagonists, Kay and Bernd, each a camera on their departure and joined them sporadically during the trip. Bornemann built his film around the 100-year-anniversary of “Pauli” by adding footage of the Millerntor stadium celebration with official speeches as well as singing and beer-drinking fans. The road adventure trip was frequently interrupted with images of soccer fans “at home”. I would have liked to see a few more impressions of the different African countries and encounters with locals. Nevertheless, this is an enthusiastic all-round St. Pauli film. One gets caught up in the adrenalin-pumping and happy (or not so happy) release of emotions in the stadium. It’s enjoyable, not only for soccer fans.