Summaries

Synopsis

In the heart of South Africa is one of the most extreme communities on the planet: the "whites only" town of Orania. In this eye-opening documentary, Ade Adepitan ventures into the lion's den, as he spends a week living in the town and trying to find common ground with its residents.

Created in the 90s as a "safe haven" for Afrikaners, descendants of white Dutch colonial-era settlers, Orania is a fast-growing town with big plans for the future. But it's a highly controversial place, with monuments to old apartheid leaders - including Hendrik Verwoerd, the "architect of apartheid" - visible across the town.

In this film, Nigerian-born Ade becomes the first black man to ever spend a week in Orania. As he gets to know the residents, he embarks on a journey to explore their beliefs - and tries to understand why they are so eager to create a society where multiculturalism seems to have no place.

Many who live in Orania believe their way of life not to be racist, but rather a cultural project, created to protect the traditions of the Afrikaner people. But with ambitions to turn their small town into an independent state what will Ade make of Orania's mission? And what will he find waiting for him?

The film has received recognition across social media. Here's a tiny sample of some of the many amazing comments:

"Brilliant, powerful TV."

"Shocking. The documentary is journalism at its finest."

"Fantastic, fascinating doc - you are fearless & brilliant in your interviewing, it was wonderful to watch you. Thank you."

"Wow. I am astounded. I have sat here and cried, I've raged. You handle every question, every comment with such grit and courage...But what hurt me was that the other people around that church, you literally dined with some of them and no one spoke out. Thank you for encouraging myself and others to speak out against injustice."

"This programme was excellent. I think your relaxed approach was absolutely right as it allowed the residents to speak openly and viewers to reach their own conclusions. Being overtly critical and aggressive would have resulted in no one speaking to you at all. I think your conclusion that they are still in shock at losing the power of the apartheid era was spot on."

"I liked the subtlety and the dignity of this programme. You handled it so well when, as was shown, just a few words out of place, any revelation of the truth, made them close up and close in. Their twisted way of looking at things, particularly history, made me feel sick."

"Brave and brilliant documentary!"

"Wow. What a documentary. So, so informative. You have opened peoples eyes and started discussions."