Heart of Whiteness

Determined to find out what white identity means to whites – and why social segregation remains important – the filmmaker strikes out on a road trip across South Africa with a light spirit and an enquiring mind. His mission: to find and talk to those white South Africans who are so terrified of being swamped by Africa that they purposely isolated themselves from all races in a town called Orania. From the very onset, until he is standing next to the sculpture of a in the heart of Orania, Desai gently challenges the ordinary whites he meets, be they teachers or janitors, English middle-class or Afrikaans farmers. They are friendly and personable, yet invariably each clings fearfully to the trappings of their identity and their entrenched views with resigned bitterness.