Excerpt from the documentary Nowhere in Europe.
The main characters of Kerstin Nickig's documentary were forced to leave Chechnya where they had been persecuted. Consequently, after they managed to flee the war-torn country, they desperately tried to find their feet in the states west of Russia's borders where they ended up. While applying for asylum, they have to endure a humiliating process in each of these countries, regardless of whether it is Poland or Austria. They have to prove that they are who they said they are and that they would have been in serious danger if they had not fled the country. But how are they supposed to do that? And is there anybody who will believe them? For an entire year, the film's director followed the quartet of protagonists as they try to forget their wartime suffering and hope for the possibility of starting a new life. Ruslan vainly seeks work in Ukraine. Ali, a journalist, has been tortured several times because of his acquaintance with Anna Politovskaya. Tamara cares for her handicapped daughter, and only a miracle saved the former Chechen leader Wacha from death while he was defending Grozny.