Moffie

Moffie (2020)

A young man in 1981 South Africa must complete his brutal and racist two years of compulsory military service while desperately maintaining the secrecy of his homosexuality.

Date of release
2020-03-13
TMDB
6.7 / 10 (102)
Runtime
1h 44m
Genres
Drama, War, Romance
Director
Oliver Hermanus

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: Moffie

Moffie is a 2019 biographical war romantic drama film co-written and directed by Oliver Hermanus. Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by André Carl van der Merwe, the film depicts mandatory conscription into the notorious South African Defence Force (SADF) during apartheid through the eyes of a young closeted character Nicholas van der Swart as he attempts to hide his attraction to another gay recruit in a hostile environment. The title derives from a homophobic slur in South Africa used to police masculinity.

Production

The film is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by André Carl van der Merwe, which the author based on his own diary entries from his time in the SADF. It tells the story of Nicholas discovering his sexuality in a dangerous context, and the irony and trauma of being forced to defend a regime that oppresses him and an ideology he does not agree with.

Eric Abraham and Jack Sidey bought the rights and approached Oliver Hermanus with the adaptation. Hermanus, whose family were affected by Apartheid, was initially skeptical of the white focus of the film, but found the memoir eye-opening and saw its potential to challenge.

Jaci Cheriman hosted a nationwide casting call over the course of a year, scouting from professional agencies to local schools and drama clubs. The cast underwent bootcamp training with a military adviser. The crew worked with actors to develop the characters, incorporating stories from real-life veterans.

The film was shot in academy ratio and colour graded to resemble the photography of the time. Principal photography took place in early 2019 across the Western Cape. The crew scouted period-appropriate sites. Filming locations included Saron, Hopefield, and Grabouw. The ending scene was filmed on Windmill Beach in Simon's Town. As it took time to procure 80s train cars, the train scenes were filmed last in the Overberg between Caledon and Elgin.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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