First of December

On the 1st of December 1838, the enslaved population were finally freed in South Africa, four years after slavery had officially been abolished and after they had been forced to remain in unpaid service as apprentices - to prepare them for becoming part of civilised society. 'First of December' follows three people during the last week of November 1838: James and Caroline Kendrick, and an unnamed runaway slave making her way to Cape Town along the coast, desperate to reach it by midnight on 31 November.