Deon Kay

Ideologies of Home

Deon Kay

The definition of a “home” is an illusive term for it may be a place of permanence or impermanence, or may even be a memory. South African filmmaker, Deon Kay, is naturalized in America and in this striking video essay he converges old home footage, news coverage and text with contemporary images that move between South Africa and the United States, drawing parallels between the problems each country faces. South Africans have looked abroad to make Europe or America their new home, evading the inherent issues of racism, xenophobia, inequality and corruption in South Africa. When arriving at the same point that you hoped to depart from, nostalgia becomes a tricky slope as wishing for home may make you realise this was an unachievable reality all along.