| Director: | Oliver Hermanus |
|---|---|
| Production: | Portobello Productions (Eric Abraham, Jack Sidey) |
| Running Time: | 103’ |
| Language: | Afrikaans, English |
| Country: | South Africa, UK |
| Main Cast: | Kai Luke Brummer, Ryan de Villiers, Matthew Vey, Stefan Vermaak, Hilton Pelser |
| Screenplay: | Oliver Hermanus, Jack Sidey |
| Cinematographer: | Jamie D Ramsay |
| Editor: | Alain Dessauvage, George Hanmer |
| Production Designer: | Franz Lewis |
| Costume Designer: | Reza Levy |
| Music: | Braam du Toit |
| Sound: | Stéphane de Rocquigny |
Cinema
Moffie
Orizzonti
Synopsis
To be a moffie is to be weak, effeminate, illegal. The year is 1981 and South Africa’s white minority government is embroiled in a conflict on the southern Angolan border. Like all white boys over the age of sixteen, Nicholas Van der Swart must complete two years of compulsory military service to defend the Apartheid regime. The threat of communism and “die swart gevaar” (the black danger) is at an all-time high. But that’s not the only danger Nicholas faces. He must survive the brutality of the army—something that becomes even more difficult when a connection is sparked between him and a fellow recruit.
Director’s Statement
Our title is a derogatory Afrikaans term for ‘gay’. It is a South African weapon of shame, used to oppress gay or effeminate men. When you are called this word for the first time, you hide from it. You edit yourself. It is when you first pretend you are someone else. The realisation that you are visible is instant. All you know about that word is that it means you are bad. You are rejectable and unacceptable and during Apartheid, just like a black woman or man, you were a crime. And so you needed to put it away, you needed to cover it up, kill it—the moffie inside you. This is a film about how white South African men have been made for nearly a century.
Producers/Distributors
PRODUCTION: Eric Abraham & Jack Sidey - Portobello Productions
12 Penzance Place
W11 4PA – London, United Kingdom
Tel. +44 7736273656
jack@portobelloproductions.com
http://www.portobelloproductions.com
WORLD SALES: Abraham Eric - Portobello Film Sales
Aabenraa 23
2 1124 – Copenhagen, Denmark
Tel. + 447836560561
sales@portobellofilmsales.com
http://www.portobelloproductions.com/sales/
ITALIAN PRESS OFFICE
manuela.cavallari@fosforopress.com
INTERNATIONAL PRESS OFFICE: Charles McDonald & Matthew Sanders
Tel. +44 (0) 7785 2463 77
charles@charlesmcdonald.co.uk
matthew@matthewsanders.org.uk
