Ty Dickason, 82, is a cowboy in remote Patagonia, Argentina. He has never flown in a plane, and yet he speaks a language from a country 7,000km to the east. He is part of a 114-year-old Afrikaans community – a culture only found in South Africa.

In southern Africa, after a devastating war with the British, the Boers (“farmers”) sailed across the Atlantic to start a new life in freedom in 1902. They headed into the arid heart of Patagonia, a land that reminded them of home.

Today, their descendants still endure in this harsh place. They speak archaic Afrikaans and sing old folk songs. But despite the fierce pride in their roots, less than 50 of the oldest still speak their mother tongue. They struggle to keep their culture alive but are resigned to knowing that they are the last generation to speak the language in the region. It is a parallel world of Afrikaans society, separate from the Apartheid policies that intervened in South Africa, giving a unique glimpse into what might have been.

The film focuses on a family, the Dickasons, who have a deep yearning to see the land of their ancestors. They travel back to Africa for the first time to meet their distant family – and their ideas of home, culture and belonging will never be the same.
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Languages: Afrikaans, Spanish, English
Director: Richard Finn Gregory; Producer: Kelly Scott

Richard Finn Gregory is an award-winning South African director and cinematographer. He lived in Tokyo for a number of years, where he started creating music videos. Upon returning to South Africa, he felt compelled to refocus on documentary filmmaking, which led to working on projects across five continents. Much of his work has focused on social and environmental issues in the developing world. He was the last person to film Nelson Mandela in a private setting, as part of the 21 Icons project.