Set against the backdrop of South Africa¹s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings, Washington Post journalist, Langston Whitfield (Samuel L. Jackson) meets Anna Malan (Juliette Binoche) an Afrikaans poet covering the hearings for South African state media. His horror at the revelations at the truth commission leads to instant animosity between Langston and Anna, but as he becomes increasingly drawn into her world and her passion for the country of her birth, he softens his stance and, against his will and principles, falls in love with the white African.