Cape Town at the time of apartheid, mid-1970s. Poppie Nongena works as a housekeeper for a rich white family. When her husband loses his job, an apartheid law takes effect to exclude the black majority population: Poppie is now considered an illegal in her own country and is to be forcibly resettled with her children into her husband's homeland in northern South Africa. At the same time, when the student uprising in Soweto against the regime broke out in 1976, Poppie had to fear not only for her own life, but also for that of her son…

The film is based on the novel The long way of Poppie Nongena by the South African writer Elsa Joubert, a huge success with the public. Alone in South Africa, the book received four literary awards.
The film adaptation received a total of 12 awards at the Silwerskerm Festival 2020 in Camps Bay, including Best Film.

Film by Christiaan Olwagen selected for the Toronto Black Film Festival 2021 online.